Bishops to enjoy a South Tyneside-style Bake Off to spread the word of Jesus

The Bishop, the Right Rev Paul Bayes, is coming to the borough next week as part of the Talking Jesus initiative, which will see 25 Church of England bishops descend on the Durham diocese over the weekend of March 2 to 5 to encourage Christians to talk to others about their faith.

The visitors will include the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

Each of the bishops are leading individual missions teams into the diocese’s 16 deaneries, and the Bishop of Liverpool has been chosen to lead the team based in the Jarrow Deanery, which incorporates all of South Tyneside.

Churches across the deanery have been encouraged to put on events, which include a Bishop’s Bake-off held at Cleadon Church of England Academy on the afternoon of Friday, March 3; a Hymnathon at Cleadon Little Theatre starting 10.30am on Saturday, March 4, and a Musical Extravaganza at St George’s, East Boldon at 7pm on Thursday, March 2.

The Bishop of Liverpool’s team will also be talking to the public in South Shields town centre on Saturday,March 4 (11.30am - 2pm) and in Jarrow town centre (10.30am – 12.30pm) on the same day.

The Right Revd Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham said: “In this Diocese, we’re all about blessing our communities in Jesus’ name for the transformation of us all.  What greater blessing can we offer than an

introduction to Jesus? What could be more transformative than coming to know him?”