2007 Lent Appeal Trains New Christian Leaders for World Mission

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, has launched his 2007 Lent Appeal by urging churchgoers in his diocese to dig deep to support the training of new Christian leaders in the developing world.

In addition to creating a Bishop of Lichfield Overseas Training Fund, this year's Lent Appeal will also be used to kick-start a major fund-raising appeal for Shallowford House, the Lichfield Diocesan conference centre at Shallowford, near Stone in Staffordshire.

In his appeal brochure, Jonathan Gledhill said his decision to raise funds for the church in the developing world followed an appeal by the former Bishop of Kuching in Malaysian Borneo.

He said: "The Christian church in Malaysia is one of the fastest growing parts of the worldwide church. The Christian population of Malaysia has grown from less than four per cent in 1980 to over 10 per cent in 2000 and it continues to grow.

"And this poses great problems for the Church. Where do they find the trained clergy and lay ministers to lead the ever-growing churches and Christian communities? The Victorian model of sending trained missionaries from the West is not the solution today."

He added: "When I visited Sarawak, in Malaysia, for the first time in 2005 I was overwhelmed to see how busy the clergy were. Sunday services began at a very early hour so they can fit the many different services into the day. Malaysia is a country with many different languages so the churches hold different services for different language groups. And they are all packed!

"The bishops and clergy in Malaysia tell me that one of their biggest needs is to train the newly-called locally-grown leaders. It's not just the cost of theological formation for priests, but preparatory training for both priests and lay leaders. Their training library is so small.

"Malaysia is not unique in this need. Another of our companion dioceses - Matlosane in South Africa - is experiencing similar needs and the Anglican mission agency USPG is working very hard to fund theological and leadership training in growing churches in some of the poorest countries across the world."

He told churchgoers that this year's Lent Appeal would be used to create a special fund which will help to train new ministers for the growing Church in the developing world. £4,000 will pay for the training of a new priest in South Africa. And in Malaysia, £1,000 will fund a placement on the preordination and lay leadership development courses at the House of the Epiphany, the theological college in Kuching; and £7,000 will fund the four-year training programme."

The training link has been extended to the "home" element of the appeal which this year will be used to kick-start a major separate appeal due later this year for Shallowford House, the Lichfield Diocesan conference centre.

Shallowford House, near Stone in Staffordshire, was given to the Diocese of Lichfield in 1938 and since then it has been used to provide training for thousands of lay and ordained ministers. But now the facilities are tired and in need of a major overhaul.

Plans have been drawn up for a major redevelopment which will see a breathtaking new chapel and concourse buildings, and a substantial upgrade to existing meeting rooms, bedrooms and other facilities.

Bishop Jonathan said: "It is likely that every parish in the diocese has benefited in some way from Shallowford House, even if many churchgoers are not yet aware of its existence.

"It is used as a base for the training of Readers and other local lay ministers, ordained local ministers, non stipendiary ministers, ordinands, priests and other church leaders.

"The centre is also used by many local churches as a base for parish weekends, retreats, away days and training events. And the facilities are also used by a growing number of non-church groups working to meet acute human need - including groups supporting victims of HIV and Aids."

To coincide with the launch of the Lent Appeal the Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, has unveiled plans and artists impressions of the new development.

He said: "For nearly seventy years, Shallowford House has served the Diocese of Lichfield and the time has now come for us to renew it for the next seventy years.

"We're very confident that this plan will meet the needs of the many thousands of people, both Christians and non-Christians, who come to Shallowford for relaxation, learning and business."