Bishop Martin has written this article for November editions of parish magazines.
The last few weeks have been a time of farewells and new beginnings for me. At the end of September we said farewell to Bishop John and to H-J his wife. The Cathedral was filled with people from all over the Diocese, with many robed ministers making up a glorious procession.
No one present will forget Bishop John handing over his Worcester crozier to the Dean who laid it on the altar before giving him a final blessing. Bishop John then walked through the cathedral alone, to exit through the great west door. His time as Bishop of Worcester was over, and we all breathed our own prayers of thanks for all he has been for us and our parishes over that time.
The process to find our next Bishop of Worcester is already underway and thank you to all who contributed to our consultation. This fed into our diocesan Statement of Needs, which was agreed unanimously by the Vacancy in See Committee and is available on our website. Six representatives elected from our Vacancy in See Committee will join other national representatives on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), producing a shortlist in May and interviewing potential candidates to be our new bishop in June. We hope that this will run smoothly, and an announcement can be made sometime in July. In the meantime we can all pray!
At the start of October it was my turn to stand before the High Altar in Worcester Cathedral, and to be prayed for and blessed by the Dean as I began my new role as Acting Bishop of Worcester for the duration of the vacancy. I have been Bishop of Dudley for almost five years now, and will happily remain so, while also carrying out some wider duties. It’s not possible to do everything on my own of course, and I am having to make a number of adjustments, so that I can properly focus on the needs of the diocese, its clergy and people. The church exists to bring people to God and God to people, in the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ. That is my task as your bishop, and it’s the task of every minister lay or ordained. We have much to get on with during this episcopal vacancy as we continue to take forwards the diocesan priorities within the transformation programme and to grow as Kingdom People.
I will be praying for you. I know I can count on your prayers too. Thank you!
+Martin
