I was privileged last year to lead one of the first pilgrimages to the Holy Land after Israel reopened its boarders following the global pandemic. In contrast to previous pilgrimages, the Holy Sites were generally quiet – ours was the only group present in the chapel in Bethlehem where Jesus is traditionally thought to have been born. That quiet extended to another of our visits, like the vast majority of pilgrimages, to the Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem.
Tag: bishopsletter
Message from Bishop Rachel, 17 January 2023
Yesterday, I had the privilege of being present at the official opening of The Nelson Trust’s Women’s Centre in Wales. Similar to the Women’s Centre in Gloucester, this provides transforming support for women who have been involved with the criminal justice system. Staff and volunteers work with women in a holistic way, listening to each person’s story and valuing them as a unique individual as they engage with the whole person, including the building and re-shaping of healthy relationships, often including a woman’s children.
Message from Bishop Robert, 10 January 2023
A number of us from across the diocese were pleased to be able to gather on Friday in the Cathedral to express our thanks to Canon Andrew Braddock for 14 years of ministry in this diocese.
Bishop Rachel’s Christmas Day sermon 2022: Gloucester Cathedral
Time is a fascinating subject and it’s something of which we are all very aware: The time it takes to cook a turkey; the countdown of days on the advent calendar; the length of time it takes for an ambulance to arrive; or perhaps the counting of years with the celebration of a significant birthday or anniversary.
A message from Bishop Rachel to the Diocese of Gloucester this Christmas
This Christmas many people will come to church buildings, halls and schools to engage with the Christmas story through various services, nativity plays and events. I hope we will capture all those numbers, but then what?
Message from Bishop Robert, 6 December 2022
A week ago, Cate Williams wrote on the deep reality of the nature crisis that is wounding the biodiversity of our world and how, as disciples of Christ, we might begin to respond. As we begin our Christmas celebrations, we are given, should we need it, another reminder of why it is so important that we respond.
Message from Bishop Rachel, 29 November 2022
We live in a world in which we are acutely aware that ‘nation lifts up sword against nation’ and there is mess and pain and injustice. Whether it’s the narrative around immigration, or a fuel crisis, or the damage inflicted on our planet, or indeed the price of eggs, there is talk of justice in the public square.
Thankfully, in our vision of LIFE Together we have committed to be ‘advocates for flourishing through initiatives which combat injustice…’ yet I am under no illusion that acting with justice is easy or straightforward, and of course mercy and love must also be brought to the table.
Message from Bishop Robert, 22 November 2022
I am delighted to report that, like the first cuckoo of spring, I have seen my first house decorated for Christmas. At one level I know I should hold the line — it’s not even Advent and as a child Christmas lights were never allowed before Christmas Eve (or just possibly the weekend before that).
Message from Bishop Rachel, 15 November 2022
This Sunday (20 November) has been nationally designated as ‘Safeguarding Sunday’.
Message from Bishop Robert, 8 November 2022
This week, we will remember the victims of war, from the Great War to the Second World War and the conflicts that have followed to this very day. As we remember, we will commemorate all victims of war and we will give thanks for those who have worked to bring peace out of war and we will, I trust, commit ourselves, as we remember, to be people of peace.
Message from Bishop Rachel, 1 November 2022
Today is All Saints Day – perhaps a welcome focus amid news and social media full of judgmental comment and disdainful appraisal of individuals whose names are in the public domain. However, All Saints Day is not primarily a day for moving from criticism to celebration of special people from the past whose stories are in print or whose images appear in stained-glass windows. Neither is it a day for simply extolling the virtues of the few who we perceive to be particularly significant. Rather, it is a day for celebrating the grace and love of God who in Christ has drawn us into a community of saints who belong to God and to one another. Those on earth and those who have gone before us.
Message from Dean Andrew, 25 October 2022
What is government for? In the political turbulence of these times, we need a vision of the role and purpose of government that goes beyond the economic and pragmatic.
One of the outstanding political philosophers and theologians of the last 100 years remains Archbishop William Temple. In his pamphlet, Christianity and Social Order, published towards the end of 1942, Temple set out a compelling vision for the provision of universal access to healthcare, education, decent housing, proper working conditions and adequate leisure time.
Message from the Archdeacons, 18 October 2022
One of our most important roles as Archdeacons, working closely with our bishops, involves the pastoral care of the clergy and lay leaders of our varied worshipping communities. It’s aContinue reading
Message from Bishop Rachel, 11 October 2022
As well as the privilege of being Bishop of Gloucester, I also have the additional privilege of being Anglican Bishop for His Majesty’s Prisons in England and Wales, and last Sunday was Prisons Sunday at the start of Prisons Week. The theme this year is Thankfulness, and it was good to explore that during the Eucharist at HMP Ashfield in the Diocese of Bristol.
Message from Bishop Robert, 4 October 2022
It was a very special privilege to gather last week with clergy and some of our lay leaders from across the diocese for our tri-annual Diocesan Clergy Conference. As the Church, we are charged in this time to share God’s love and to work for the coming of the Kingdom. So we return from the conference recommitted to sharing in this great commission with you, with the whole baptised people of God and with partners of goodwill across our communities.
Raising awareness of domestic abuse: A message from Bishop Rachel
Bishop Robert and I welcome the new e-learning module called ‘Raising awareness of Domestic Abuse’.
Message from Bishop Rachel, 27 September 2022
Next month is International Black History Month and it leaves me feeling uneasy. It’s not because I don’t agree with bringing Black history into the frame or ensuring that so many stories about people and places are made visible, or that we are challenged regarding racial justice; rather, my uneasiness is because it can look as if people only need to think about all these things for one month of every year.
Message from Bishop Robert, 20 September 2022
It will be a great joy to welcome our Reader community to the Cathedral this coming Saturday for our Annual Reader Day and, in the afternoon, our Annual Service during which Bishop Rachel will be admitting three new Readers who have now completed their training.
Readers have a long and distinguished history of ministry and play a significant part in the ministry of the church today and we owe them a great debt of thanks. Of course, their ministry is significant for all they do in preaching, teaching, pastoral care and, more recently, in pioneer ministry. It is, however, equally significant for what Readers are.
Message from Bishop Rachel, 13 September 2022
Last Tuesday, many of us were looking at pictures of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, receiving our new Prime Minister. Amid a time of yet more political upheaval and economic uncertainty, the Queen was there – that figure of constancy and unity. Then, just 48 hours later, everything changed, and this Tuesday we find ourselves mourning the death of a beloved Queen.
A message to our worshipping communities from Bishop Rachel on the death of Queen Elizabeth II
“It is with deep sadness that we hear the news of the Queen’s death. As our sense of loss ripples out across the nation, Commonwealth and world, we give thanksContinue reading
Message from Bishop Robert, 6 September 2022
For those of us who seek to follow Jesus Christ, this is where our hope and our confidence is to be found – a hope and confidence that will allow us to speak a different story, that will challenge the narrative of gloom and doom that seems all pervasive.
A post-Lambeth message from Bishop Rachel and Bishop Robert
It has been an enormous privilege for us both to be part of the Lambeth Conference which gathered some 650 Anglican Bishops and 450 spouses from across the world atContinue reading
The Lambeth Conference
Last week, Bishop Robert wrote about the Lambeth Conference and now we are here in Canterbury, alongside the Bishops from our partner dioceses. There are about 700 Bishops from all over the world, plus about 500 spouses and ecumenical guests, and it is a privilege to encounter one another and hear about contexts very different from our own, with challenges we can only begin to imagine.
Message from Bishop Robert, 26 July 2022
Bishop Rachel and I have our bags packed and we are about to head off to Canterbury to join some 650 other bishops and 450 bishops’ spouses from around the globe for the Lambeth Conference, the gathering of Anglican bishops that has taken place every 10 years or so since 1867.
