St Hild College, a theological education institute which trains many of the Diocese of York’s ordinands, is delighted to announce the launch of Camino, a new resource church leadership programme for the North, in partnership with the Office of the Archbishop of York. This has been made possible by a generous funding award. The Church of England’s Ministry Development Board has awarded a significant grant over six years for the design and delivery of this strategic training programme for church planting in the North.
Camino is a new guided learning programme designed to apprentice future resource church leaders and other Church of England incumbents involved in strategic church planting. Fostering grounded leadership and nurturing a culture of church multiplication and revitalisation, the training focuses on providing essential theological understanding and skills for strategic church planting.
The programme will cover key areas, including missional strategy, developing lay and ordained vocations, good governance, intergenerational and intercultural engagement, safeguarding for large churches, and engaging with younger generations. This focus will equip resource churches and their plants to grow ministry significantly among children, young people, and families, fostering a thriving and diverse church community across all generations.
Participants will undergo a 16-month training journey that combines residential sessions, online learning, professional coaching, and practical ministry applications. The programme will foster collaboration among peers and build a strong ongoing learning community. The project will be delivered part-time over five years, with five cohorts, beginning with the first cohort in September 2025.
‘Camino’ is named after the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes spanning various European countries and North Africa. The name acknowledges the Celtic heritage of the church in northern England and symbolises a shared learning journey that integrates diverse perspectives, contextual insights, spiritual formation, and practical experience.
As part of a larger project, Faith in the North, Camino will primarily serve dioceses in the Northern Province, but will also be accessible to other dioceses, balancing the provision of training and development for resource church leaders across England. The project forms part of a northern enabling strategy to support parish revitalisation and church planting across the region. It supports the national vision to become a growing, younger and more diverse church by developing leaders who embody this commitment.
Camino will prioritise diversity by aiming for cohorts that reflect a strong representation of women and individuals from UK Minority Ethnic and Global Majority Heritage backgrounds, alongside a commitment to further diversify in terms of social background, church tradition, and church planting models.
Revd Canon Dr Mark Powley, the Archbishop’s Mission Enabler for the North said, “Revitalising the ministry of another parish is a bold, costly and potentially incredibly fruitful step. As we look to see an increasing variety of churches taking on this role, we need a vibrant and diverse cohort from which to draw future resource church leaders. Camino is a vital collaborative contribution to that end.”
Revd Dr Daniel McGinnis, Principal of St Hild College said, “I’m delighted to see the Camino programme become a reality. It fits well with the wider ethos of St Hild, which is a pioneering culture serving and equipping the church in our region. We are committed to delivering cutting-edge training that meets the church’s needs, and I’m convinced that Camino will do just this, profoundly strengthening and accelerating national church planting efforts.”
Revd Canon Lizzy Woolf, Rector of St George’s Church, Leeds and Chair of the St Hild Centre for Church Planting Steering Group said, “Resource churches play a vital role in the mixed ecology, planting churches through diverse models. Leading them is challenging, but quality training transforms both ministry experience and outcomes. Camino’s focus on equipping resource church leaders addresses a crucial gap, offering significant missional impact for our region.”
Revd Dr Christian Selvaratnam, Dean of Church Planting at St Hild College and the Camino Director said, “Camino is for the whole church—we are committed to identifying and encouraging suitable candidates from every background to apprentice as future resource church leaders, contributing to a church that is increasingly growing, becoming younger, and more diverse.”
Recruitment for the first Camino cohort will begin in the new year. For more information, please visit sthild.org/camino or email camino@sthild.org.
