Church leaders welcome Black Country Missionary

Local church leaders have welcomed the appointment of Evan Cockshaw as Church of England missionary to West Bromwich.

The Revd Margaret Small, Rural Dean of West Bromwich, said: “The Church in West Bromwich has got hardly anyone in the 16 to 30 age group and we felt very much that we need to have somebody to come and do this work for us.

“I don't see this initiative as being in competition with the existing churches. I very much see it as helping the existing churches to do what they are not able to do. For some reason we are not meeting the younger people at all and we need somebody to go out and be doing that work for us and hopefully showing us what we can be doing in our own areas to get the young people to know about Jesus. [...]

And the Archdeacon of Walsall, the Ven Bob Jackson, who also serves as one of the Bishop of Lichfield’s growth officers, denied that the appointment was a sign that traditional churches have failed. He said: “There is a huge amount of life left in the traditional churches as Jonathan said in the sermon. Actually, church attendance at the traditional churches in West Bromwich last year increased, but they are missing a couple of generations, so they are mainly middle aged and older folk, and they are clearly missing some of the sub cultures. Read more