Lancashire Church of England members gather for conference

Chris Hedley from Christ Church, Fulwood, Preston; Paul Adnitt from St Gabriels Church in Blackburn and Penny Waters, from St Chads Poulton-le-Fylde

Delegates from Lancashire Church of England parishes gathered for their first conference in 10 years - and turned a little corner of Derbyshire into '˜red rose country'.

More than 300 clergy and laity from parishes in Lancashire met at the three-day event, which had the theme The Mystery of Faith, this week. Chris Hedley, a churchwarden from Christ Church, Fulwood, Preston, said: “There was a real sense of a Diocese working together and being a team. It was also great to be able to network, to sit down with someone unfamiliar, find out your local issues were often very similar and to be able to discuss ways of tackling them together.”The conference examined some of the key doctrines of the Christian faith and how these central truths can speak to a challenging contemporary culture.Speakers included The Lord Chartres and Tim Farron MP, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats.The Diocese even had time to celebrate Lancashire Day, when Rt Rev Philip North, the Bishop of Burnley, read out the Lancashire Day proclamation.Clergy and lay leaders who came to Swanwick, Derbyshire, were encouraged to take back the learning and insight and share it with their PCCs and wider congregations.