The 44th diocese of the Church of England, the Diocese in Europe is not only alive and kicking but one of the ( or the?)fastest growing dioceses. Comprising over forty nations within its diocesan boundaries (from the Arctic Circle down to the sunny climes of the Canary Isles, across all of the Russias and down to Turkey (fancy a discussion on Turkey’s inclusion in the EU from our point of view?), our diocese presents both huge opportunities and challenges.

The opportunities spring up wherever Anglophones find themselves gathered as a tiny (10-20) worshipping community that is looking to have an ordained minister to pastor them. Rarely are all the members of such a community from the Church of England, nor of course from England either. We minister to all who seek to worship God in English in an Anglican Church, so in an ‘average’ (no such thing in our diocese by the way…) chaplaincy Sunday by Sunday we will have perhaps 20 nationalities and almost as many denominations. Far from the old image of the ‘British Expat’ exporting their corner of England, more often it is now a huge range of Christian life, work, worship, witness and development that you will find. We smile a wry smile at some of the C of E initiatives of self funding or ‘Fresh Expressions’ marketed as being new ideas, we live that day by day and have done for many years.

The challenges are almost as interesting as the opportunities! How about: What is a fair level of health insurance for the chaplain and their families across the many nations? Who is going to be able to check that the individual national legislations are compatible with the terms and conditions of service UK style? Stipends, who decides what a comparable level is?

The diocesan staff (less than 10…..) work flat out along with our diocesan bishop Geoffrey Rowell and our suffragan bishop, David Hamid, to enable the diocese to function as well as possible. Whilst we as chaplains get on with the business of serving the communities and congregations entrusted to our care and work to promote spiritual growth.

At General Synod we have four reps; from Rome, Antwerp, Madrid and Lille. We do what we can to help you all understand our life and experience on the mainland, and beg you to stop excluding us from so much of the regular business of the Church of England. It is a bit dispiriting to see that yet again the Diocese in Europe hasn’t been included in something. We do all belong together and despite the fact that we are indeed very different from the other 43 dioceses, we know we have much to offer the rest of you from our experiences in Europe. Please do ask us about life there and, above all, please pray for us.

Revd. Debbie Flach
Diocese of Europe