Almost 40 people have received a certificate from the Bishop of Worcester after completing a course about their Christian faith.

The people from groups in Worcester, Ombersley, Offenham and Cradley Heath took the Bishop’s Certificate course over 12 months with the support of local tutors.

It covered subjects such as Christian faith and the Creeds, the Old and New Testaments, Pentecost and the Holy Spirit, discipleship and living as Christians with people of other faiths.

Bishop John addressed the candidates before presenting them with their certificates.

He offered congratulations to all those receiving certificates as well as thanking the tutors.

He said: “This course is not just about learning facts for no reason, but about having the wisdom to understand how those facts affect our lives.

"I hope that what you have learnt has given you a thirst to know more as well as a true spirit of enlightenment about God’s love.”

Sue Bateman from St. John in Bedwardine Church was a part of the Worcester group. She said: “It was brilliant. I knew the content of the course before starting but I learnt so much more.

"It has definitely strengthened my faith – I found out things about the bible that I didn’t know and learnt lots of things that helped validate my faith and move it to a deeper level.

"There was also a lot of fun, laughter and cake and Sarah Cottrill was a great leader!”

Pippa Heenan is a member of Inkberrow Church and completed the course with the group in Offenham.

She said: “I absolutely loved the course.

"It took me on a theological journey which was much deeper and broader than I expected and I learnt about other religions – their similarities and differences to Christianity.

"We had an amazing leader in Philip Morton and as a group we all encouraged each other to push our learning further.”

Angela Fletcher is from Feckenham and was part of the group in Ombersley.

She said: “The course was really interesting. It was great to meet a new group of people who were all at different stages of our Christian journey.

"I enjoyed the discipline of studying again and particularly enjoyed the section about the New Testament.”