It has now been just over two months since we moved into our new Diocesan Offices on Denmark Road, Gloucester. If you have not yet visited, I hope you will soon. Those of us who work out of Church House are gradually discovering how to inhabit this new space. There are, inevitably, some teething problems, but I am pleased to report that—while we do miss being part of the Cathedral Close and community, and remain deeply grateful for all that was—the overwhelming sense of the move is one of positivity.
There are, of course, very good practical reasons for the move. Our new offices are a better use of our resources; we no longer pay rent, we own the capital asset, and the new heating system will ensure that the building becomes carbon‑neutral. The building is proving beneficial in how we work—offering good space, encouraging connection, and supporting collaboration—and I am confident this will help us serve our parishes and communities more effectively. But this is not all.
For me, one of the most significant benefits of the move is the way in which we are able to offer hospitality: to individuals who come for conversations, to those attending meetings or interviews, and as a venue for hosting training—such as the recent curate training I had the pleasure of co‑leading. My hope is that, increasingly, our offices—with their variety of rooms, their different configurations, and with a chapel and kitchen at the heart—will be a place of inclusion and welcome, marked by the hospitality of God.
It would be a mistake to see the new Church House simply as a set of offices. They are that, but they are also so much more. If we inhabit them well, and if we welcome all who come through the doors as Christ himself, then this building can truly become an expression of who we are as the Body of Christ—alongside our parishes, chaplaincies, schools, fresh expressions and all we do. A place where everyone is known, valued and loved; where we, and all God’s people, belong to each other across our Diocese wherever we gather.
We marked Ash Wednesday in Church House with a Eucharist—not in the chapel, but in the entrance hall, that place of coming and going. There we prayed with the whole Church that we might learn once again to be God’s people. My prayer is that this space, and all that happens in and from it, may be a blessing to us: furthering our mission, sharing the love of God, and building the kingdom. My prayer is that this, like all our churches, may be a place for all.
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