Networking Day 2025
More than 100 people from across the diocese came together for a day of sharing and celebration.
Representatives from our 16 Ministry Areas and Newport Cathedral gathered together for a Networking Day at St Teilo’s High School, bringing together lay co-chairs, MA wardens and treasurers, property teams and safeguarding officers, along with ministry area leaders and ministry teams.
In her address, Bishop Cherry said: “ A Networking Day – it’s what it says on the tin. But I want to rename it and call it a Festival, because today is a celebration of all that God has done and is doing in each of our MAs. Today is not a competition to see who’s doing best. We’re not here to rank the 16 MAs from 1 to 10, the most exciting to the least exciting. We’re here to rejoice in what, by God’s grace, we’ve been able to do. And I hope that you are all rightly proud of how far you have come in the last three years.”
During the morning sessions the groups were given practical updates on things such as grants, membership app, Churches Unlocked etc. They also shared good news and experiences from their ministry areas, reflecting positively on where they are currently, where they would like to be and what would help in their future development.
Our Diocesan Vision was launched three years ago, and the work that has been done by our ministry areas to embrace and embed this vision has been wonderful. The Well-Being Guide was then published the year later, with the Culture Guide being launched last year.
The focus of the Networking Day was to build-on and develop the work being done around the Values highlighted in the Culture Guide – love, courage, joy, integrity, generosity and humility – along with how this ‘looks’ in our churches.
Each Ministry Area was given a statement from the Culture Guide and asked to create a stall displaying how this is demonstrated in their area. Time was dedicated during the day for everyone to look around the stalls and chat about what has worked well and sometimes, ideas that didn’t work so well. The displays were all amazing, and the room was buzzing with energy and enthusiasm as people shared ideas, taking inspiration back to their ministry areas.
Bishop Cherry used her sermon to reflect on the Well-Being Guide, which “sets out the importance of caring for ourselves and caring for one another as we go about God’s work, and it gives some examples what we’re to look out for and pay attention to.”
She explained: “The tendency of human beings, however, is to assume we know what God wants of us and to believe that we can do it all on our own. Wrong on both counts.”
She reminded us, that “None of us is perfect. None of us can do everything. None of us can say we have no need of anyone else. And we have to keep being reminded of this, and keep reminding one another of it too. It’s a life-long journey of learning and re-learning, for us all.”
This tied in with her closing address, which reflected on the need to acknowledge that, “….the church is not a business. We are not a corporate enterprise. We are a community of faith….Our actions need to flow out of our prayer. Not the other way around. Our planning needs to be shaped by prayer and listening and discerning, rather than prayer being added at the end; simply being a request for God’s blessing on our good ideas and the plans that we make.
“Today, we’re celebrating something of the fruits of our life and faith and prayer that are evident in the churches of our MAs. As we look around the stalls that have been created, we’ll catch just a glimpse of what God is doing in and through us. Let’s rejoice in that. Let’s be generous in our praise for what we’ve managed to do by God’s good grace. Let’s be thankful to God for all the signs of new life and hope and joy that are evident across our diocese, and be encouraged.”