I wish to start this charge in the place I concluded the last one, I spoke then of, I quote “Let us enjoy being Episcopalians, let us show the Highlands that our faith is one that allows us to laugh and dance and sing, a faith that they may wish to discover and which we openly ask them to share with us.” That was in the context of the evening Synod Eucharist, Ceilidh and fellowship. Last night we started that process and those who managed to get together had what I thought was a super evening, I would like to say thank you to the provost for preparing both the service and the Kenneth Street Halls, also the young people who provided such a thought provoking drama.
I have to say that I certainly seem to have been dancing and singing since the November Synod, dancing from place to place and singing hymns of praise in so many churches and fellowships. I believe that by the 15th of June I will have attended Sunday Worship in all of our churches, an experience that reveals the diversity and excellence of our liturgical and hospitable life together.
I spoke at my interviews about being an itinerant Bishop, spending time amongst the people of the Diocese, that is a commission I am trying to take very seriously, the reason for that is so that I can truly keep the promises I made before you all, promises I keep on my desk so that I can measure my daily life against them.
I promised, “as chief pastor to encourage and support all the baptised in their gifts and ministries, to nourish you out of God’s grace, to pray for you and to celebrate with you the sacraments of our redemption”. To that end I have presided at your Eucharist, I have baptised and confirmed and I have visited the sick.
But as Bishop there needs to be more and I hope I have also been brining support to those who minister day by day week by week in the communities and congregations of this Diocese. With Anne Tomlinson I have facilitated LCM reviews in Rothiemurchus and Torridon and will soon continue that in Ullapool, those reviews have helped me to understand the life of those congregations in this particular style of ministry, at the same time I have been talking to congregations about the life of the Diocese and in some cases walked alongside the congregation when difficult things have been happening.
What I have also discovered is that none of our congregations are fundamentally different from each other, whatever style or process they engage in, however large or small they are, what we have found Sunday by Sunday are people worshipping God with all their hearts and souls, people offering themselves to each other in service and congregations full of joy and hope. In Nairn I preached about smiling, and smiling is what I see week after week.
To facilitate the continuing spread of those smiles I have met with a number of people and begun to put systems into place to allow for fresh starts and advances, these include, the formation of a Vocations group across the diocese, giving those who seek to explore vocation a space and fellowship where they can share ideas, theology, and support. Canon Ruth has begun to plan the first meeting and those who were unable to attend the very valuable Vocations day can speak to her about how to get involved.
In the South West of the Diocese in Nostie, Kishorn and Poolewe I have asked Canon David McAlister if he will offer oversight to the congregations, giving them the support and encouragement of a full time priest as they explore new avenues of mission, David will do all of that from Nairn, he doesn’t escape from those duties either.
I have asked Rev Maggie Eaton to become my advisor on healing ministry, Maggie has trained with Jacobs Well, a healing order from within the Anglican tradition and I have asked Ruth Flockhart to look at the whole question of Spiritual direction and spiritual development. Listen out for request of help from both of these initiatives.
The second promise I want to focus on today is “Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers and defend those who have no helper?”
In my travels I have heard such wonderful stories of what people are doing to help the downtrodden and helpless, too often all we hear about are the major projects when in fact most of our clergy and many of our congregations are involved in bringing practical and spiritual help to others. In Aberchirder I heard of church involvement in childcare and was told of the wonderful support Alison Simpson has been in a school facing the real heartbreak of rural poverty. I have witnessed congregations engaged in all aspects of Fair Trade and equitable sharing, I have seen creative support given to charitable projects, such as last nights drama first performed to help launch Moray Fresh Start and I am delighted with the exchange going on across the diocese with the members of the L’Arche community. At our last Synod we heard of the For the Right Reasons Charity, one of a number of innovative projects supported by members of the church. Richard Burkitt told you of his desire to work for the project almost full time and we have been working towards that aspiration ever since.
Richard will be stepping down as Rector of the Black Isle and will become fulltime Project Director, at the same time he will become part of the team at St Michael’s under the leadership of the Dean. Richard will become our mission priest to Merkinch and will be afforded a part stipend to allow for this work to be advanced. We wish him well in this ministry and rejoice in his continued presence among us, bringing his usual style to our fellowship.
You have also heard of the development of a group in the Diocese looking at issues of justice and peace etc. This will sit within the Mission and Ministry Board and I know that Alison Simpson will be looking for those who wish to be involved to come forward. That leads onto our overseas Mission, Martyn Bateman has worked tirelessly to keep the profile of SECMA in our sights and we have now decided to expand this work, again from within the Mission and Ministry board, to create a committee of those who seek to inform and advise us on the direction of overseas mission in the Diocese, anyone wishing to offer themselves then please see me.
All of these things, the fulfilment of those promises requires sound teaching, You have heard that the training scheme is progressing towards a September launch, in fact I know that Alison Wilson is busy attempting to coordinate a meeting with tutors today. I wish to record my thanks to those who have answered this call to be teachers, I have also enjoyed the opportunity to be amongst some of you engaged in teaching and theological debate, either as part of your Lent Study or as I was doing in Thurso last week as part of explaining the things we do as church.
I have begun the series of clergy appraisals and will be in touch with the rest of the clergy as this year progresses, the audit will be launched on Palm Sunday, if you can be there then be there but don’t get worried if you can’t, join with us in prayer.
So that is about it, Vocation, Training Appraisal and Audit all moving forward and now Justice and peace, Home Mission and Overseas Mission,
What else would I like to address, well I know of many people who love nothing better than to organise a hooly, give them a reason to party and they jump to it. I need those people. The life of the Diocese needs opportunities to celebrate and enjoy. I am looking for a group of people who would love to coordinate the social life of Moray, Ross and Caithness, putting in place an annual calendar of events that allow us to share time together. There are so many things we could do to allow people to get to know each other. One of their tasks would be to coordinate events in our local churches that could be opened up to the Diocese, a trip to the Castle of Mey followed by Evensong in St Peters Thurso, a visit to Glenlivet and Songs of praise in St Michael’s Dufftown, a pilgrimage to Applecross, the possibilities are endless, if this is something you know someone would enjoy being involved in, let us know.
There are many things both exciting and challenging facing us, I ask you all to pray for Jane and myself as we prepare for the Lambeth Conference. We hope to hold a quiet day in Inverness to allow us all to prepare prayerfully for this event. Prayer and worship is at the heart of what we do, we need to be seen engaged in that cycle of prayer which makes up our church year. Our worship needs to be visible and welcoming, powerful and inspiring; it is the worship of God that draws people to us, not gimmicks. So do not be afraid of allowing people to share and live our liturgies with us, stop ourselves from excluding those who see things differently from us, let us not hear words of intolerance and hatred coming from our lips, for when we pray and sing, when we teach and learn, when share and offer then there we will see the life of Christ.
Keep me travelling along with you. Amen,
