News Stories


  • Attendance at our churches rises for fourth year

    Statistics have shown that attendance at CofE churches in our diocese has risen for the fourth year in a row since the Covid pandemic. There are now 8,000 worshippers in our churches each week. The figures reflect a similar rise at national level. However, the figures are still below the pre-pandemic levels reached in 2019. Read more

  • Cathedral offers space for homeless to sleep

    Our cathedral will welcome 12 rough sleepers each night from the end of October to March 2026, as part of a partnership with the Society of St James. They'll bed down for the night in Becket Hall, the cathedral's hall in St Thomas's Street, opposite the cathedral itself Read more

  • Chaplains are integral to hospice care

    Chaplains are integral to the care that hospices give to their patients, families and staff. Spiritual issues are woven into end-of-life care, and to bereavement support. The Rev Vickie Morgan is the chaplain at the Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of Wight Read more

  • New pioneer minister commissioned on island

    Ali Mascarenhas was commissioned as a lay pioneer in a special service at St Mary’s Church, Brighstone. Ali has led work in this parish over the past four years on projects including working parties in the churchyard, nature talks, a group creating mosaics and outdoor Celtic worship. Read more

  • New priest appointed for Hayling Island

    Bishop Jonathan has appointed a new associate priest to work in the parish of Hayling Island. The Rev May Barker will work alongside the interim priest-in-charge, the Rev Nick Todd. Read more

  • Bishop welcomes new Archbishop of Canterbury

    Bishop Jonathan today welcomed the announcement that the Rt Rev Sarah Mullally is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. The 106th Archbishop of Canterbury will be the first woman to hold the role. Read more

  • Safeguarding conference examines trauma

    Dozens of parish safeguarding officers, clergy and other church staff attended the fourth annual Safeguarding Conference, held at St Luke’s Church, Southsea. They heard from speakers about trauma-informed care, about the theology of trauma and about aspects of mental health. Read more

  • Ambitious Remembrance project to help us remember

    An ambitious Remembrance project will help us to remember those who made sacrifices to preserve our freedoms. Christ Church Portsdown will host the event, which will include thousands of poppies cascading inside and outside the church, stories of wartime evacuees, and an exhibition within the church. The church site, on London Road, includes a military cemetery where those who died in the First and Second World Wars are buried. Read more

  • Prison chaplaincy can be a godsend

    The chaplains based at HM Prison Isle of Wight offer regular Sunday services, pastoral care, Bible studies and help with bereavement issues. Every Sunday there is a Eucharistic service in both chapels, on the Parkhurst site and on the Albany site, led by one of the two Anglican chaplains on site. Around 30 inmates attend each. Read more

  • Independent audit praises safeguarding in diocese and cathedral

    An independent audit has praised the transformation of the safeguarding culture within our diocese and our cathedral over recent years. The report, by independent safeguarding group INEQE, was published after a digital survey earlier in the year and a week-long in-person visit in June. The audit said that our diocese had gone through “a substantial and positive transformation in its safeguarding culture, establishing a firmly embedded and robust framework.” Read more

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