THE Archbishop of Canterbury will follow in the footsteps of Russell Brand and Coronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy on a visit to ‘Brighton’s cathedral’.

Archbishop Justin Welby will visit St Peter’s Church in Brighton on Sunday to preach a morning service, meet the congregation and answer questions from vicar Archie Coates.

Outspoken comedian Russell Brand visited the church last year to discuss plans for a dry bar in the city with Hove-based Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts in ITV soap Coronation Street).

The Rev Coates spoke of his excitement of welcoming the archbishop, who is more accustomed to globe-trotting than visiting parish churches.

He said: “Bring your friends and family. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we’re going to cram in as many as we can to St Peter’s to see the Archbishop Justin Welby as our guest speaker.”

A spokeswoman for St Peter’s said: “We are very excited to have Justin Welby coming to speak to us. We feel very privileged about this as he normally visits countries and continents – not parishes.

“We hope to make him feel part of the family here with as warm a welcome as we can give.

A spokesman for Mr Welby said: “The Archbishop has been invited to St Peter’s by the Vicar, Archie Coates, to meet members of the church staff, preach at the morning service and be interviewed in front of the congregation by Archie Coates.”

Tackling the nation’s most godless city

BRIGHTON and Hove is officially the most godless city in England and Wales.

The 2011 census showed 42% of Brighton and Hove residents describe themselves as having no religion, up from 27% from the 2001 census.

The Rev Coates was brought in from London in 2009 to turn around St Peter’s dwindling congregation and crumbling Victorian building.

It now attracts up to 800 worshippers every week.

Affectionately known as Brighton’s unofficial cathedral, it was designed in the early 1800s by Sir Charles Barry but was made redundant in 2007.

In Mr Coates’ first week he found a young woman called Mel who had died from an overdose on the church’s doorstep. In her memory the vicar held a lunch for homeless people, which now feeds 100 people on Saturday nights.

In 2012 Mr Coates opened up the church’s main hall. The church received an English Heritage grant of £200,000, match-funded to pay for works to repair and watertight the hall.

In 2013 the church got a heating system and paid £80,000 to remove asbestos from the roof. Bell tower work started this January.