18 June 2025
St Mary Magdalen Church is the regular meeting place for Forging Men - a group open to all men of all ages, in the Billericay area, dedicated to fostering fellowship.
Forging Men host a variety of activities specifically for men, not only to encourage men who are already go to church, but to make church accessible and attractive to men who are less familiar with church.
The group meets monthly and hosts a range of social events including curry clubs and darts nights. The group often invites a guest speaker to their meetings and members have the opportunity to discuss meaningful topics in a welcoming and friendly setting.
Forging Men is also actively involved in community action projects in the town, helping those in need, particularly with gardening and house DIY tasks.
The Right Reverend Adam Atkinson, the Bishop of Bradwell was a guest speaker at a recent Forging Men meeting and he was interviewed by the Revd Chris Arnold, Rector of Billericay Team ministry.
Revd Chris said:
“It was fantastic to welcome Bishop Adam to a Forging Men meeting. We spent time unpacking what this means for us to be Christian during the week and not just on Sunday. “
Bishop Adam reflected that our vocational calling wasn’t simply to convert people over the coffee machine nor was it to aspire to be a Vicar. But actually, the vocational work of our hands, be it employment, communities we are in, schools, families and pastimes become objects of devotion and worship to God.
“As a world we are in need of lawyers being lawyers and thinking profoundly what that means as a Christian. Not simply lawyers who think their only Christian service is to be on the kids’ team on a Sunday. God’s calling is much bigger and way more exciting than that.”
Find out more about Forging Men by searching @forgingmen on social media.
This article has been taken from the latest edition of WePray, our quarterly prayer diary which brings together our Cycle of Prayer and stories from across our Diocese.
