Pilgrimage to the peripheries

The Gospel calls us to build a Church that reaches to the margins of society – and we’ll be doing just that in October for the 2024 diocesan Justice and Peace Assembly.

Church at the Edge is an invitation to ‘stretch out our tent’ as individuals and parishes.  We’ll head to the peripheries in our diocese, in more ways than one, and hear from people who work with those on the edge – in community organising, politics, and with seafarers, detainees and with nature itself.  The Kingdom of God unites everyone and everything.  It’s this vision for the ‘common good’ which makes mission real.

This year in Cleethorpes we’re honoured to be joined by Lord Maurice Glasman, Director of the Common Good Foundation.  Since 2021 he has been working in neighbouring Grimsby, together with Jonathan Lange, founder of the Living Wage campaign.  He’ll share lessons for all our parishes in reaching out to the peripheries on our doorsteps.

Grimsby is unique for its fishing heritage, but it’s like countless places in Nottingham Diocese and nationwide – ‘post-industrial’ towns which, the Foundation says, ‘remain ignored and obscured in our politics and in our economy’.  Cllr Steve Beasant, Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, will set the scene with his own experience of the struggles many of his residents face.

The Common Good Foundation has been holding hundreds of conversations with local people, identifying and building leaders and enabling them to repair trust and revitalise community institutions.  Churches have been crucial to the endeavour, not least the Catholic Parish who are hosting the day for us at Corpus Christi, Cleethorpes.

We’ll be hearing from others who support those on the margins. Patrick Bond visits migrants who are detained near Lincoln and are awaiting deportation to their country of origin. Some simply entered this country without permission, got work and were arrested without warning. Some have committed crimes – and there can be few people in the UK who attract more fear and hatred.  Patrick characterises some of them as ‘lost boys’ and his work is a testament to human dignity in the midst of inhumanity.

Mike Dillon is a chaplain to seafarers with Stella Maris, and brings decades of experience leading efforts by UK government and international institutions to raise labour standards in the global seafood industry. Mike, together with Steve Jackson and Sue White, will share experience of rising to Pope Francis’ challenge to Stella Maris to bring “the people of the land and the people of the sea together”.

Of all the people of our diocese, future residents of Lincolnshire’s coast and fenland are perhaps the most at risk from climate change.  John Boardman.  He will share from his experience promoting the Eco Church scheme across the Lincolnshire Methodist District, and help us take action to mitigate an increasingly volatile climate, at the edge of England and across the world.

The day will start with Mass celebrated by Bishop Patrick and parish priest Canon Andrew Cole, to which all are welcome. Lunch of Grimsby fish and chips, or vegetarian alternative, can be ordered when booking.  Let us know if you’re staying the night before – we’re planning something for those who do.

This will be a pilgrimage to the periphery of our diocese. We’ll return to our neighbourhoods with eyes to see those on the edge, and ears to listen with them for the Good News which transforms lives, communities and our nation.

To book your place visit bit.ly/churchattheedge