About Us
Since 2011, the Diocese of St Albans has had a clear vision of Living God’s Love with three priorities:
going deeper into God
transforming communities
making new disciples
This vision flows from God’s love for us, and is expressed in our love for God and our neighbours. These themes are well understood across the Diocese and were given a fresh endorsement following a year-long ‘listening exercise’ which took place in 2016-17. Through Living God’s Love we are seeking spiritual and numerical growth across our parishes, benefices, schools and chaplaincies. In fact, all our activities, from recruitment and selection, to clergy and Reader review, are increasingly focused towards growth.
The Diocese of St Albans consists of the counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and part of the London Borough of Barnet. The population is approximately 1.8 million, and the total electoral roll number is approximately 32,000. The Bishop of St Albans has overall responsibility for the Diocese. He is assisted by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Bedford and the Bishop of Hertford, who in turn are assisted by the Archdeacons of St Albans, Bedford and Hertford. There are twenty deaneries and the Diocese has 340 parishes, of which about one third are rural, 210 benefices, 414 churches, 257 stipendiary clergy, 44 non-stipendiary clergy, 223 clergy with Permission to Officiate and 248 Lay Readers. There are 138 Church Schools and Academies in the Diocese. The Diocesan Synod is the elected decision-making body of the diocese and the Bishop’s Council as the Standing Committee of the Synod has a key role in formulating diocesan policy. The statutory work of the Church and support to the parishes is provided by the staff of the Diocesan office, located in Holywell Lodge in St Albans. There is a strong Christian ethos within the office; for example, there is a monthly staff Eucharist. However, there is no expectation that all staff will necessarily be practising Christians.