Vision of a young Norfolk Christian story-teller 

Some 35 years ago, an enthusiastic young Christian journalist moved to Norfolk with his wife, and a cherished but seemingly unattainable vision of providing a professional news service to highlight the work of the local Christian community and, in doing so, to help unite its different parts. Keith Morris reports.

The journo landed in King’s Lynn with a job on the local daily newspaper – the Eastern Daily Press. His wife was a paediatric hospital doctor and soon the couple (well mostly the wife) produced a daughter in the same hospital in which she worked.

Soon after, the young journalist was offered a promotion to the bright lights of Norwich and, at the very same time, an opportunity and the means to give birth to his own vision – that of a regular newspaper to tell Good News stories about what the local churches and Christians were doing to establish and extend the Kingdom of God in the county.

So it was that back in 1992, the Good News for Norwich newspaper was born, printed on the same presses as the Eastern Daily Press. It was published three times a year and, at Christmas, a remarkable 80,000 copies were printed and delivered to thousands of homes across the city by enthusiastic teams from many local churches.

Hundreds of personal stories of faith of local Christians, or those with a national profile but a local link, were found, researched, written and published by the multi-denominational team.


Over the last 33 years, more than 100 editions of the paper (pictured above) have been published and around 2 million copies printed and distributed – and it is still going strong.

I was that young hack and, by 2005, with the advent of the internet, I saw the ever greater opportunities for spreading that same Good News online. By then I was working as the Communications Manager for Archant, which owned the EDP, Evening News etc.

The vision – share by John Betts and Rev Nicholas Vesey - developed into the fledgling Network Norwich website (now Network Norfolk). It was launched in partnership with the Norwich Churches Together grouping – called Transforming Norwich, now Connect Norwich - and the local Christian seedbed charity Dreams & Visions.

I took a step of faith and went part-time from my Archant role to launch the website for two days a week and have not looked back since.

We now employ a team of four writers, all part-time, who, over the last 20 years have written and published over 10,000 stories of faith, read by literally millions of people. Many of those stories have gone on to also be told by other newspapers, radio  and TV stations, multiplying the effect of that Good News. The real impact may only be truly known the other side of heaven – though there are lots of examples this side – connections, decisions, inspirations.

We have always had a focus on highlighting the work and lives of other Christians and hence, the recent Norfolk Christian Communications Awards which aim to do just that.

The website itself has also given birth to similar Christian news sites in Great Yarmouth, Suffolk, Peterborough, Bristol and Leeds among others.

The work and vision continues and if you appreciate them both, then I would like to invite you to support them by keep reading the stories, answering the advert for jobs, events and businesses and, if you are able, to make a small monthly contribution to help to cover our costs.

You can sign up for the news here and donate here.

Pictured top is Keith back in 1990 with his two-day-old daughter in King's Lynn and, above, with the Good News for Norwich & Norfolk newspaper.