Last updated 4th August 2020
The Diocese of Blackburn is working together to implement Vision 2026: Healthy Churches Transforming Communities. The focus of this vision is to make churches healthy, because healthy churches grow. Vision 2026 is about health, not growth, with a particular emphasis on:
Making disciples.
Chaplains have a key role in nurturing people in their discipleship journey. This can be on a 1:1 basis or as part of groups and organisations within schools and universities. Connecting disciples to worshipping communities forms a key part of a chaplain’s work in order that individuals can find fellowship and support beyond the school or campus
Being witnesses
Chaplains are empowerers of the young. They equip support and encourage them to share their faith with peers as well as being themselves a beacon of Jesus’ love for the school or university as a whole. Students are by their very nature passionate about enabling change and fighting for a cause. This zeal partnered with staring faith is a powerful witnessing tool.
Growing leaders
There is evidence that many Christian leaders are formed through their high school and university careers. Many university chaplains can point to ordained priests who engaged with the chaplaincy whilst studying. Equally, many lay leaders had experiences that formed them through school and university and find these to be at the heart of their calling to serve God in the places they find themselves
We support chaplaincy in both schools and universities in Lancashire.
The Diocesan Board of Education holds the responsibility for the support and development of chaplaincy in educational institutions and has recently produced its vision for this work. The Vision for Chaplaincy can be found here.
Our Vision is to see children and young people transforming the world through the love of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our Mission is to help build worshipping, discipling and prayerful children and young people that love Jesus and want to follow Him and who live out their faith in communities, in friendships and in families.
To deliver this we want to help:
This chaplaincy vision is a part of seeking to fulfil the Church of England’s Vision, ‘Faith in Higher Education’ which explains the desire to see our University institutions humanising their academic provision to enable wisdom, community, virtue and the common good to be central drivers in the formation of young minds. Faith in Higher Education can be found here.
University chaplains offer counselling, support and guidance in matters of faith and spiritual development to students and staff. They arrange events to help develop a sense of community and a Christian presence in the University through engagement with senior staff and day to day working with young people.
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