church growth,global majority,gospel,liturgy,pentecostal,racism,safeguarding,tradition,working class,young people,youth,youth ministry,youth work

Joseph Thornton
Email: [email protected], Mobile: 07506977678
Proposer: David Shipley of Morpeth Deanery
Seconder: Alice Wilkinson of Central Deanery
Who am I?
My name is Joseph; I am 22 years old and graduated from Northumbria University in 2025
with an Upper Second Class Degree in History and Politics. Originally I am from the Ribble
Valley, Lancashire. It was there that I first came to know about Jesus, attending a
Pentecostal church with my mother from as young as I can remember. My love for Jesus
grew every year and came to a full fruition after I moved to Newcastle to study. It was here
that I came to a full realisation of Jesus’s love for me through His life, death and
resurrection.
In my upbringing there were two things I was especially conscious of, my ethnicity and my
family. My grandfather was from Nigeria, and in the 1960s married my grandmother. They
lived in England and Nigeria and brought their faith with them wherever they were. As I have
grown older, I have realised more the pressure they may have been under as an interracial
couple. Knowing they still spread the love of Jesus has always inspired me. In fact, my
grandfather was influential for my faith, telling me stories from the Bible and answering all
my questions. I have always felt conscious and connected to my Nigerian roots.
Secondly, my family. My parents divorced when I was just two years old. My mother had to
go back to university to study again in order to help provide for me and my brother alone.
Her strength through struggle and continued love of Jesus despite difficulty has always
inspired me too.
My Experiences
As mentioned, I completed a degree in History and Politics, which led me to an appreciation
for the history of Christianity. My studies helped me fall in love with the Anglican tradition
more, I realised the rich depths of the history of our churches, cathedrals, liturgy, and parish
structure. During my degree I also volunteered for what was then known as Tyne & Wear
Archives & Museums, which helped grow my appreciation for
local history and art. In addition to this I completed a group
project on northern working class voices in music, art and
literature presenting it at St Nicholas’s Cathedral. During
university, I attended Northumbria’s Christian Union. In my final
year I served as its secretary, which involved communicating
with the Student’s Union, finding venues and speakers and

leading. During that year on committee the Christian Union almost tripled in size going from
averaging just over ten people each week to over thirty.
Since university I have been working as a Ministry Trainee
(MT) for Jesmond Parish Church. This role is one which
involves fundraising, so relationship and communication
skills are key! I am involved with Children’s & Youth ministry,
in which I help run four groups with over 100 different
children attending weekly. This role has helped me see the
importance of bringing young people into our churches.
Next Synod

I would be able to represent those who are of the Global majority or have roots in it. I
think it is incredibly important to have different voices in this regard. This is
especially the case as the church debates and prayerfully thinks through issues of
race and racism. It is crucial to make sure all people feel welcomed, valued and
loved in the Church of England.

As someone involved in full time youth work and someone recently graduated,
working on Synod to debate and develop plans for bringing in more young people
into our churches is something I would like to do. As a younger person, I have
firsthand experience of what it is like growing up in our current time – I understand
what people like me and younger are looking for. There is a great need to show young
people the love of God, and working with youth has grown my passion for this.

Following on from the above, working to ensure that safeguarding is something
developed, protected and sufficiently considered is another aspect I bring to the
table. Again, working with children & youth every week means I know the importance
of keeping them safe, but not only them – everyone. So keeping people aware of
safeguarding and trained is something I am passionate about.

Another area of importance I would like to bring to the table is church growth. It
saddens me to see that our nation’s church is declining in numbers, and our
parishes are especially suffering from this. The church I attend has seen some
growth recently, and I’d love to see this too in the diocese and wider church. In
addition, seeing people who are young, working class or of the global majority play a
role in filling up our churches is another desire of mine.

Similar to our church growing, I also love our churches. As someone who has
completed a degree in History and Politics, I understand the significance of our
churches. Church buildings were something that helped me fall in love with
Anglicanism. I would be active on Synod to protect, repair and enable people to
attend them.

Most importantly, I want to work on Synod to discuss ways on how all people can
come to know the love and peace of God. Figuring out different ways we can bring
the gospel to those in our communities is my primary concern. We have an amazing
God who loves us so much, it is important to share this joy.