The Melbourne Benefice

28/08/2026

We will be joining in with a variety of services and activities across the Benefice The Church of England in Derbyshire

Churches worldwide are coming together to adopt a major new Christian festival: the Feast of Creation, also known as Creation Sunday!

This monumental ecumenical dialogue happening in Assisi, Italy is a powerful sign of unity amongst the global Christian family. It is also a prophetic gesture that the Church is responding to the groaning of creation. With origins in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Feast is being embraced by most major Christian traditions.

Celebrated on the first Sunday of September, this is an opportunity to praise God as Creator and ponder the great mystery that everything was created through Christ.

The Feast also coincides with the month-long Season of Creation, which A Rocha helps celebrate each year. Find everything you need to celebrate the Feast and the Season at https://resources.arocha.org/resource/living-water/

22/08/2026

Welcome to the Diocese of Derby Centenary 2027 Account

In 2027, the Diocese of Derby will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Over the coming months and years, we’ll be sharing stories, memories, events and moments from across Derbyshire as we mark this important milestone together.

Whether you’re a regular churchgoer, attended a church school, sang in a nativity, celebrated a wedding, joined a Harvest Festival, attended a christening, or simply stepped into a church at a significant moment in your life, chances are the Church of England has been part of your story in some way.

This centenary is about more than church buildings and history. It’s about people, communities and the moments that have brought us together over the last century.

Our centenary theme is “The Kingdom of God is Good News for All”. As we celebrate 100 years of the Diocese of Derby, we’ll be exploring what that means in our communities today, sharing stories of hope, service, faith and transformation from across Derbyshire.

We’d love you to be part of the journey.

Share your memories, photographs and stories. Tell us about the people, places and events that matter to you. Let us know what’s happening in your church, school or community as we build towards 2027.

Together we’ll celebrate our shared history, give thanks for the present, and look forward with hope to the next 100 years.

Follow this page, share our posts and help us tell the story of the Diocese of Derby.

Celebrating 100 Years. Sharing Every Story.

Centenary2027 SharingEveryStory GoodNewsForAll Derbyshire

15/08/2026

Tomorrow morning the 4 churches in our Benefice will be joining togther to celebrate the Patronal Festival of Melbourne Parish Church at 10.30am. There will be NO services at Smisby, Stanton or Ticknall.

31/07/2026

This is a fabulous project that really encapsulates the theme of this years festival

📣 We are so excited to share that the SECRET SCULPTURE GARDEN at Melbourne Hall Gardens opens on 1st August!

✨ This has been one of our most exciting projects to date.

👣 Follow a trail of contemporary sculptures by regional artists while also discovering Melbourne Hall’s collection of antique sculptures and admiring the stunning views.

💫 Featuring a BRAND NEW sculpture by Stevie Davies, commissioned as part of our Humanity, Nature & Creativity project supported by Arts Council England!

GARDEN OPEN: 1pm - 5pm every afternoon in August (except first three Mondays) and Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in September.

HALL OPEN: From 2pm - last entry 4.15pm every afternoon in August (except first three Mondays).

A huge thank you to our sponsors:
Sunfish Services | sunfishservices.com
Acres Creative Engineered Solutions | https://acres.engineering
Arts Council England
South Derbyshire District Council

27/07/2026

Lovely service at St James Smisby yesterday for their Patronal festival thanks to Ticknall Parish Church choir for joining and all who supported we journey on as pilgrims together Diocese of Derby

17/07/2026

Great to be able to learn about local biodiversity save the date

A wonderful opportunity to join a professional botanist Jane Southey when she guides us round Whistlewood's plants and habitats as part of a survey of Whistlewood. Join our volunteers while we learn about how to enhance biodiversity further. Free, Sunday 2nd August 2 to 4pm at Whistlewood, Melbourne, Derbyshire.
More information on our website.