OFFERING church services throughout the week are just some of the ways the Bishop of Chelmsford wants to reconnect residents with the Christian faith.

The Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell’s vision for adapting the church to fit in with the ongoing changes in society is to address the constant challenge of reconnecting people to the church.

After eight months in his new position Bishop Stephen is determined to raise people’s awareness of what the church does as well as to close the expanding gap between society and the church.

Putting a fresh-face on a 2,000 year old set of principles and beliefs Bishop Stephen, 52, has been inviting residents and shoppers to join him for a chat on a sofa in Lakeside shopping centre.

Bishop Stephen said taking responsibility for the second largest diocese in the country was daunting but highly honourable.

He said: “I love the diversity of Essex, especially the fantastic stretch of coast line and it is good to be back, especially to south Essex because I have family who live here.

“I find people are interested and fascinated by what the church has to say and what we represent but have had little or no contact with the church before.

“The step between the church and people’s lives is getting bigger but we are doing lots of things both large and small to bridge the step.”

One of the initiatives is back to church Sunday which encourages people who have not been to church before to take part and learn more about the organisation.

Bishop Stephen, who grew up in Sylvan Way, Leigh admits he did not go to church while he was growing up but attributes this to his desire to attract more people to join his faith.

He added: “I have particular concern for people outside the church because remember what it felt like.

“We live in a changing world and the changes over the last 40 or 50 years have taken the church by surprise.

“For example, many people now work on a Sunday which is when traditionally the church holds its service so many people can’t come even if they want to.

“Changing that is really challenging because it has been in place for hundreds of years.

“I plan to be around for a while and I hope under my leadership we change to ever different contexts.”