Brits Abroad?

Clergy born in (left to right): Canada, Iceland, Cyprus, Burundi, South Africa, Finland, Sudan and (yours truly - Scotland)
One of the myths about this Diocese in Europe that is very frustrating to put to rest is that we are a basically a religious club for English people living abroad.

While many of our over 300 congregations have many, or even in some cases mostly English members, particularly in areas of the Diocese where a number of British people have retired, it is simply not accurate to describe our Diocese as the "Brits Abroad". We are a home for all who wish to worship with us, and that includes not just the English (and certainly not just Church of England folk) but English-speakers from a host of countries around the world. There are also some of our congregations which worship in languages other than English.

By way of illustration of our diverse and international make-up, at the recent synod of the Nordic / Baltic deanery, I looked around the room at the clergy and noted that 7 out of the 12 who were present were not born in England, and with one exception had not even lived in England at all. They hailed originally from Cyprus, Iceland, Burundi, Finland, South Africa, Sudan and Canada. (And one bishop from Scotland).

This was also true of the laity, adding in addition those born in the USA, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Nigeria and Denmark!

We are proud of being an international and multi-cultural jurisdiction of the Church of England, and have much to offer the rest of the Church from our rich experience in cross-cultural ministry. You can be a Church of England jurisdiction without being English.

The Revd Sammy Masemola from Bergen leads Bible Study for the Clergy Chapter
The Revd Deacon Christophe Ndikuriyo reports on work with migrant communities in Jelling, Denmark

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