Bishop John has celebrated 10 years as the Bishop of Worcester in a special service in Worcester Cathedral. The service was held yesterday on the feast day of a former Bishop of Worcester, St Oswald, and the eve of the tenth anniversary of Bishop John's enthronement as the 113th Bishop of Worcester.
To mark the anniversary, Bishop John has also written to clergy throughout the Diocese. He said:
I am full of thanksgiving to God and to everyone in the Diocese for all I have been given in my time here. During it I have faced the best of times and the very worst of times and am immensely grateful for the support I have received throughout from everyone.
At the service, the choir sang a motet for St Oswald's day from the Worcester Antiphoner, a collection of liturgical music in the cathedral library dating from 1230, the only surviving complete monastic antiphoner in the UK. The Dean, the Very Revd Peter Atkinson, preached, giving thanks for Bishop John's ministry in the Diocese. He said:
We have shared a great deal with Bishop John during these years. We have received from him so much of the three hums he set before us in his enthronement sermon: the three hums of humour, humility and humanity. Tonight we give thanks for those who have ministered as bishop in this place: Bosel and Dunstan, Oswald and Wulfstan, Hugh Latimer and Charles Gore, as well as giving thanks for ten years of John's ministry here.
Bishop John said:
Ten years is the longest time I've spent in one role in the same place. I've been very happy here and am looking forward to many more years as the Bishop ofWorcester.
The service in the Cathedral was attended by people from throughout the Diocese and was followed by a drinks reception.
St Oswald was made Bishop of Worcester in 962, building a new cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and served by Benedictine monks. Oswald subsequently became Archbishop of York as well as Bishop of Worcester and died in 992.
See the photos from the celebration.
ENDS
The Diocese of Worcester is one of 42 dioceses in the Church of England. It covers an area of 671 square miles and includes parishes in the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell.
From: Sam Setchell, Press Officer for the Diocese of Worcester and the Bishop of Worcester.
Tel: 01905 20537 Mobile: 07852 302516
Email: ssetchell@cofe-worcester.org.uk
