The Diocese of Leicester has joined a pilot scheme offering parishes training and support from Renew Wellbeing to launch simple, welcoming, café-style spaces, and work in partnership with mental health teams to improve people’s mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
Renew work with many churches and denominations across the country and the Diocese of Leicester is among seven dioceses being offered their training and support over the next two years as part of the Church of England's Disability Project.
Many churches already offer places to meet, but Renew's approach is distinctive. Each cafe space is attached to a quiet room or prayer space where inner habits of wellbeing are shared and each church partners with a mental health professional from the local council or other suitable organisation to ensure good, inclusive practices for safe spaces where the phrase ‘it's okay not to be okay’ can be sustained.
Visit renewwellbeing.org.uk to find out more about their work.
Revd Sharon Andrews, Associate Priest at St Anne, St Paul and St Augustine in Leicester, is excited to be leading the scheme in the diocese. “I hope parishes will take up this invitation to develop Renew Wellbeing Cafes in the diocese,” she says. “We believe in a healing and compassionate God who restores individuals, families, and communities to wholeness through the Holy Spirit.
“Our churches are well placed to be centres of healing, acceptance and loving service in every village, town, and estate in Leicestershire. I also hope that some parishes will also find that existing cafe-type events can be enriched or refreshed through becoming Renew Wellbeing partners.”
For any churches interested in learning more, there will be two (repeated) online information sessions on Tuesday 17 September, 2-3pm and Thursday 19 September, 11am-12pm on Zoom.
Email Revd Sharon Andrews to register: revdsandrews13@gmail.com
Following these sessions there will be a training event for those wanting to take things further at St Martin's House on Thursday 31 October, 10am-12pm.
In this video, Director of Renew Wellbeing, Ruth Rice, explains more about the Renew model and their partnership with the Church of England: