14 January 2026
In July 2025, All Saints’ Church in Rayne hosted a Confirmation service, where nineteen candidates were confirmed by The Rt Revd Roger Morris, the Bishop of Colchester.
Eighteen of the candidates came from the Benefice comprising All Saints’ Rayne, St Peter and St Paul’s Black Notley, and The Church in Great Notley (a Local Ecumenical Partnership of Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, and URC Churches), and one candidate came from Halstead.
Later in the year, in October, the Benefice presented two additional candidates at St Mary’s Bocking, bringing the total number of candidates prepared for Confirmation in 2024 - 2025 to twenty.
The candidates ranged in age from 11 to 70, and their stories reflected the beauty of community and family: three generations from one family, a husband and wife, a fiancé and fiancée, a mother and daughter, and even next-door neighbours!
A total of eleven candidates were presented by All Saints’ Rayne - the largest number in 50 years, since June 1975. In fact, this service was the largest since the church’s records began in 1946.
The Revd Rachel Prior, Rector in The Three Churches Benefice, commented:
“This remarkable season of growth has been inspired by the Leading Your Church into Growth (LyCiG) course. I was personally inspired by the teaching that Jesus cares about numbers, because he cares about the one - the one lost sheep, the one lost coin, the one Zacchaeus - and this changed my attitude. We now prioritise and plan for growth in our churches."
Two key changes in the benefice have made a significant impact:
- Praying regularly for growth, every Sunday and throughout the week.
- Running seekers’ courses, including Alpha.
Rachel added:
“Our first Alpha course in September 2024 was so well received that participants invited family members, leading to another course in January 2025, and we’re currently running a third one! We’ve also worked hard to make our all-age worship services inclusive, accessible, and inspiring, so that whole families can worship together.”
For more information about LyCiG, click below.
This article was take from our quarterly newsletter, We Pray.
