Archdeacons’ Visitation Services Start
This week has seen the beginning of the annual Archdeacons’ Visitation Services where newly elected churchwardens are formally admitted to office.
This week has seen the beginning of the annual Archdeacons’ Visitation Services, a significant moment in the Church calendar as newly elected churchwardens are formally admitted to office. Services this week took place as St Mary’s Rawtenstall, Christ Church Ashton and St Peter’s, Swinton. They continue to take place at churches across the diocese throughout June and July, bringing together churchwardens, clergy and lay leaders in prayer, encouragement and shared commitment to the life of the Church.
Visitation services take place each summer following the election of churchwardens at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). While rooted in long-standing tradition, they continue to play a vital and practical role today. A churchwarden is not officially in post until they have been admitted by an archdeacon, giving these gatherings both spiritual depth and legal significance.
Historically, visitations were occasions when churchwardens reported on the moral and spiritual life of the parish, the state of church buildings, and the conduct of worship. While the focus has evolved over time, the services remain an important opportunity to recognise the dedication of lay leaders. Today, they centre on prayer, thanksgiving and support, as well as fostering connections between churchwardens, Area Deans and archdeacons across the diocese.A Reflection on Rest and Calling
At last night’s service, Archdeacon Rachel – who is preparing to retire next month – offered a thoughtful and personal reflection on the importance of rest. Drawing on biblical teaching, she spoke about rest not simply as inactivity, but as a deliberate pause: a space to reconnect with what truly matters and to become more attentive to God’s presence.
She reflected on her own journey and shared how learning to rest has become an essential part of sustaining faithful ministry. Her words resonated with many present, particularly those stepping into the responsibility of being a churchwarden. In a role that often demands both practical leadership and spiritual attentiveness, the reminder to rest and remain grounded in God’s presence offered both reassurance and encouragement.
Archdeacon Rachel also took time to express her gratitude for the support she has received over the years. The evening concluded with a warm expression of appreciation to Rachel from those gathered, including the presentation of a card from the parish.
As this year’s visitation services continue, they offer an important moment to recognise the vital contribution of churchwardens and lay leaders across the diocese. Through prayer, fellowship and shared commitment, these gatherings set the tone for the year ahead – grounded in service, supported by community, and sustained by faith.
For all involved, this season of visitation is both a beginning and a reminder: a beginning of new responsibility, and a reminder that ministry is best carried out not in isolation, but in shared purpose and with space for rest along the way.
Read Archdeacon Rachel’s letter that she shared in the Archdeacons’ Visitation News:
I wonder if you have scripture passages which simply will not let you go. Here is one of mine, from Matthew’s Gospel: ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Perhaps it is unsurprising that these lines speak deeply to me as I prepare for retirement. At the same time, they present an abiding challenge for anyone’s pilgrimage into God’s deeper grace and mercy. I think it is a passage that we are all called to be mindful of. However, it might speak especially to churchwardens.
Jesus reminds us that he has no wish to destroy us. Rather he wants to set us free to have life in abundance. He says, ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’ The work and ministry of a churchwarden, even when exercised in the company of a gifted and able team, is demanding. It can be a recipe for weariness precisely because being a warden requires a readiness to carry significant responsibilities. Wardens’ work is weighty work. Nonetheless, to be in the company of Christ is first of all to be in a place of rest. Jesus offers a vision of service and ministry which asks us to be yoked with him and his company for the most remarkable work: the preparation of God’s field, the world, for the full flowering of the Kingdom.
I am not naive. The image of a ‘yoke’ potentially conjures a vision of us being like beasts of burden trudging across fields while Christ, the farmer, urges us on. Perhaps that is how ministry feels sometimes. I know that feeling. The weary, burdensome trudge of service. The loneliness and exhaustion, where love seems to have worn thin. The sense that one shall not see the glorious day when God’s Kingdom flowers with grace, mercy, peace.
Nonetheless, the call is to find ‘rest for our souls’. The great spiritual director, Fr Gerry Hughes, claimed that we are ‘made for rest.’ What he meant is that though we are called to work and serve, the defining call on our lives is to shape them around worship and prayer. Prayer and worship are rest precisely because they open us to God’s deepest reality. This is the reality which is free from fear and frenetic flailing about, the urge to try and keep everything going or attempt to keep the juggling balls of ministry from falling to the floor. When we are yoked to this inner freedom we grow more like Christ.
So may we all, lay or ordained, warden or not, dare to take the risk of letting go. Of being where God is — the God who is Love and who grants us rest and peace. Let us dare to pray. To worship the God whose yoke is easy and who grants our souls rest.
The Ven Dr Rachel Mann, Archdeacon of Salford and Bolton
Read the full online version of the Archdeacons’ Visitation News here:
