THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will be visiting the Black Country over two days later this year.

After spending time a day in Worcestershire, the archbishop will be heading to Dudley borough to meet church members, school children and members of the public to support and encourage them and share some of his own faith journey.

On the evening of Saturday October 8, Archbishop Justin will meet members of the interfaith community at Dudley Council House.

He will follow this with ‘The Power of Hope’ event, when he will be in conversation with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai at Dudley College in front of a specially invited audience of young people and adults.

The following day, Sunday October 9, the archbishop will visit the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill from 2.30pm. Along with other local church members, the archbishop will walk around the centre, praying for those he meets.

His visit to the borough will then be concluded with a special ‘Songs of Praise’ style event, with plenty of songs and hymns that everyone will be able to join in with.

The Bishop of Dudley, Graham Usher, is part of the team organising the visit, he said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to have Archbishop Justin with us for these three days.

“We can show him the great work being done by our churches in their local communities. Through the public events, we hope as many people as possible will get a chance to see and interact with him.

“It’s going to be a busy three days, but will be lots of fun.”

More information about the archbishop’s visit to the borough can be found at www.cofe-worcester.org.uk/archbishops-visit