In 2013, the Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Revd Philip North, told the General Synod about his former parish on a large Hartlepool estate, which had been vacant for more than two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompare that with a recent vacancy in a richly endowed parish near Paddington, which attracted 123 firm applicants, and you will see the true measure of the spiritual health of the Church of England,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Five years later, he believes that, after years of being complicit in the abandonment of estates, the Church of England is \u201cback\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Holy Spirit is doing amazing things on the estates of this nation, and we are joining in,\u201d he told a meeting of the National Estate Churches Network at St Francis at the Engine Room, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Launching a strategy that includes an aspiration to have a \u201cthriving, growing, loving church on every significant estate in the country\u201d, he highlighted new church-plants, including Freedom Church, planted by St Paul\u2019s, Marton, on the Mereside estate in Blackpool (News 4 August 2017<\/a>); Oldhams Church, in Bolton (News 11 May<\/a>); and St Cuthman\u2019s, on the Whitehawk estate in Brighton (News 11 November 2016<\/a>).<\/p>\n Recent visits to theological colleges had left him \u201coverwhelmed by the enthusiasm that many of them have to serve in areas of deprivation\u201d.<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rev Philip North chatting to schoolchildren who attended his announcement as next Bishop of #Burnley<\/a> @cofelancs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MgUUzNvEfY<\/a><\/p>\n — CofE in Lancashire (@cofelancs) November 7, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n