Not Pie in the Sky when you die!

In this short video Brian McLaren reminds us what it is all about.

Brian addressed the Lambeth Conference this week and I heard him last year in Dublin - Compelling and inspiring!

For more from Brian see here

The New Blasphemy

"You can say what you like about Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but say anything reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous about a climate change scientist and you will be punished. You won’t receive a literal lashing, but you will get a metaphorical one. Speak ill of a climate expert and you’re likely to be stuck in the stocks of the public media and branded as a fact-denying, truth-distorting threat to public morals."

This from an article at spiked-online.com where Bredan O'Neill responds to Ofcom's censure yesterday of the Channel 4 documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle". The Ofcom document is well worth a read and is worrying regardless of where you stand on the Climate Change debate.  Surely no reputable science can be pursued without robust challenge and to make such challenge off limits is ultimately anti-scientific. Anyway the scientific bodies concerned carry such clout that they hardly need defending from Channel 4 ....... unless they are worried that Joe Public might begin to believe that their theories are not completely water-tight? Oh and before you ask ... No I am not a Creationist? I believe in Evolution and other good Science.

Lambeth - A tale of exclusion!

This is a very sad post - both for its author,

Bishop Gene Robinson and for the Anglican 

Communion. I think Canterbury has made a 

huge mistake and one that could undermine 

all the good which might come from this 

conference. This is not the way to deal 

with our problems - as anyone who 

read todays Gospel would surely realize!

The posting below is from his blog: 

Canterbury Tales from the Fringe.

Pray for me

+Gene

Never have I felt more in need of your prayers. As I write this, the opening service of the Lambeth Conference is going on at Canterbury Cathedral. I am a few miles away -- but it feels like a much further difference. I am not appearing at the opening service, as I promised the Archbishop.

Yesterday was a painful day. I am feeling frustrated and angry. I dare not write too much, because I don't want to sound like I'm whining, nor do I want to say anthing intemperate. But making my first trip into Canterbury and the campus on which the Conference is occurring was difficult.

The level of fear and anxiety, especially among the Conference powers-that-be, is out the roof. No matter what I say, no matter what assurances I give, I seem to be regarded as a threat, something to be walled off and kept at a distance. Greeting a few American bishops in passing, and then at a dinner for General Seminary alumni last night, has been pleasant and supportive. But even though I thought I was properly prepared for the feeling of being shut out, I am stunned by the depth of that feeling.

I am not participating in any kind of official way at the "inclusive opening service" being held this afternoon on a green off campus. I will sit in the congregation with those American bishops who choose to show up in support of this service of inclusion. I know that a number of them will be present, even though they'll have just finished a long service at the Cathedral. This means so much to me that they would do so, especially at this time.

The most infuriating blow came this morning with news that when the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops meets on Tuesday afternoon (each of the 38 "national" provinces of the Communion will have its own gathering), I will not be allowed to participate, because this would look like I had become a "participant," and the organizers seem intent on enforcing my status as a non-invitee. If nothing can be done to change this decision, it will be a particularly painful blow. At our House of Bishops meeting in March, I pleaded with the House not to let Lambeth separate us. For me to be excluded from my own House of Bishops seems especially cruel and unnecessary.

All is not bad, of course. I had a wonderful time with organizers from Integrity, Claiming the Blessing and the Chicago Consultation. They are making a powerful and effective witness to the presence of gay and lesbian people in the Church, and I am honored to be with them.

In the afternoon, I made my own little pilgrimage -- not yet to the Cathedral, but rather to the Greyfriars, the community of Franciscans here in Canterbury. Franciscan friars made their way to England and arrived in Canterbury in A.D. 1224. They've been here ever since. I had been invited to join them for prayer, eucharist and quiet, so I wanted to touch base. I was welcomed by every single one of the community, getting a personal tour of the place (which includes a heavenly "pasture" of wildflowers tucked between two passages of the river that runs through town) by one of the brothers, and then tea with the whole community. (See photo above, which includes some of them.) I believe I have found a spiritual home here in the midst of exile. I am thankful for their hospitality and welcome.

I don't know how all this is going to play out over the next two weeks. At the moment, I am feeling like the ancient Hebrews, wandering in the desert looking for God's daily manna, just to get through. With all the exclusion and meanness that has come my way over the years, you'd think this would come as less of a surprise. But surprise me it did! And it hurts, especially at the hands of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

So please, pray for me. Pray that God will reveal to me what I am to do and how I am to do it, best reflecting God's love and spirit of reconciliation. Pray that when given an opportunity to speak to one or to many, God might replace my words with His words, my heart with His heart. In the end, I keep reminding myself, I'm going to heaven.

Breaking News from Lambeth!

The picture above shows what happened when Bishop Brennan (Ordinary to Frs Ted, Jack and Dougal of Craggy Island) turned up uninvited to the Lambeth Conference. Archbishop Rowan Williams who has just completed a course in unarmed combat in preparation for a likely confrontation with some troublesome bishops was fully prepared when Bishop Brennan gatecrashed the conference. Like all good Anglican rows it began and ended in the bedroom where Williams performed the classic Anglican 'kick up the ass' dispatching Bishop Brennan without the need to resort to Sharia law. For further details on this and other episcopal encounters check out the Blogging Bishops from Lambeth.

UPDATE: One of my sources on the inside of the conference, the Bishop of Cork, reveals enhanced new security arrangements to keep Bishop Brennan out - It seems huge numbers of rabbits have been imported onto the campus and are doing what rabbits do with gay abandon! (No pun intended).  Bishop Brennan (Len as he is known to his friends) is terrified of rabbits and is reported to have left the area. For more on the rabbits see this story from another inside source.

FURTHER UPDATE: The picture below which has been leaked from a reliable source would seem to indicate why Bishop Brennan is not welcome at the Lambeth Conference!

Brutal slaying of Andrew Hanlon

Fellow Blogger Bock the Robber has taken up this issue and uncovered some very disturbing information as to the circumstances surrounding the brutal slaying of Andrew Hanlon in Oregon recently. This is a short extract from one of Bock's postings: 

Andrew fell down before Gonzales shot him the final time, but he didn’t just trip.  He had already been shot, probably fatally, and without warning.

Gonzales only shouted a warning to Andrew after he was already fatally injured.  When he was lying on the ground, trying to get up, Gonzales then shot him again several times, in the limbs, causing the young rookie policeman who accompanied him to throw up in horror.

Now why would he do this?  Well, one possible reason is that he knew Andrew was going to die, and he needed to show that some disabling shots had been fired.  My guess is that he will now try to reverse the chronology and claim to have fired the leg and arm shots first.  He’ll claim that the fatal wounds were inflicted only after Andrew refused to stop.

I’ll remind you again: Andrew Hanlon was shot seven times, and possibly by two different weapons.

and the rest is here

If what Bock has uncovered is even half true then Andrew's killing was cold-blooded murder and a cover up to boot!

And now this:

We are a broad Church - All are welcome!

Nobody was brave enough to ask Lord Vader where he stood on human sexuality so he was welcomed into the procession.

Guess who might be coming to visit!

I have just had the third call today from the 'Meja' wondering had I heard if and when Senator Obama is coming to visit us here in Moneygall / Cloughjordan.  Apparently it was reported in the Irish Sun (tabloid newspaper) this morning as immanent so it must be true! It seems that there is pressure coming from various sources both within the Democratic party and here at home for Senator Obama to make a quick stop in Moneygall when he is in London on his european tour! Needless to say he would be most welcome but there is only one problem! The place is in a shambles - the painters, 

builders and decorators are in residence and there is a fine layer of white dust on everything inside the house including myself! There is so much of the stuff that it looks like an explosion in a cocaine factory! What if he wants to come to the rectory for high tea ( a daily ritual observed by all 'good Protestants' )? That would never do! 

Only thing for it is to get my good wife to make up a picnic of  sangwidges (cucumber naturally) and crisps - and of course a cup of tae from a paper cup- can't beat it! We could even have it on the site of the former family dwelling - And then on to Ollies for a pint of stout with the relatives and a chance to catch up where they left off - only about 160 years to cover so he should be back in the US by November!

Joking apart - it is an exciting prospect and even if it does not come to pass this time we are all looking forward  to a visit from a man who seems to have managed to rehabilitate the once noble calling of political office and given people something to really hope for and believe in - Themselves!  That may sound like a selfish and individualist philosophy but I think what makes Obama so inspiring is his ability to empower and motivate others to be the best that they can be and do the best that they can do. But his motto is not "Yes I can" but rather "Yes we can"!

(Is he a Bob the Builder fan? Who knows but I am sure Bob would approve! )

Obama builds community through his inspirational leadership and much maligned rhetoric.  In a world so full of alienation, cynicism and apathy this has to be good news!

So Senator Obama, if you or any of your team happen to read this may I formally invite you and your wife to a picnic in Moneygall. Just make sure you bring your umbrella!

So we are about Love are we? Never would have guessed!

Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire talks among other things about some of the naked aggression shown towards gay people today and reflects on how some leaders in our church have stood by and said nothing. It reminds me of the admittedly overused saying: "All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing"! This was recently demonstrated by the rebel GAFCON conference (of pure Bible believing bishops)  whose members refused to condemn violence against gay people and the Primate of Nigeria who has at best ignored and some would say condoned the murder of gay people in his country! Not to mention the Archbishop of Canterbury who has sadly failed to loudly condemn the homophobic rants of so called 'orthodox' Christians! Unity is desirable of course but at what cost? What is worth sacrificing for Unity? From the denial of an invitation to +Gene to Lambeth it would seem that among the sacrifices is hearing the voice of gay Christians! So much for the 'listening' promised in Lambeth 1998 resolution  1.10! 

The Heat is on! How we Christians love each other!

The Lambeth conference hasn't even begun and already the pot is simmering. It never fails to amaze me the depth of hatred that the sexuality issue provokes in otherwise sensible individuals. Bishop Gene Robinson, a good friend and someone I have huge admiration for was preaching in London today when this happened:

Fuller video coverage of the protest here

Full video of sermon here

 For a little background look at this and this and also this.

An intelligent church prepares the ground

I have been reading Steve Chalke's recent book: Intelligent Church and this sermon is in part inspired by some of the insights he makes in the course of what is an excellent and challenging work:

Sermon for Sunday 13^th July 2008

In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 we are very usefully provided with an interpretation of the parable. Seed (the Word of God) is sown in various conditions and according to the ground on which it falls (the people who hear it) it either prospers or dies. And even without the interpretation, anyone with even a basic knowledge of gardening would understand the symbolism in this parable. The hearers of the Word are either shallow, rootless, distracted or lastly deep and receptive to it.

It is tempting to look at these different types of hearers and ask ourselves which group we fall into: Are we shallow and easily swayed? Are we lacking in endurance? Are we too busy surviving to think of the deeper things of life or are we well grounded and nourished, fertile ground for the Word to take root? 

Whatever our answer, perhaps a better question to ask ourselves is this: What are we doing to prepare the ground so that the Word of God can take root and bear fruit in the lives of others? It is all to easy to resign ourselves to the inevitability that for some people God will never be a part of their lives.  We criticize the rising tide of secularism and militant atheism – we despair at those who say there is no God or at least see no place for God in their lives – we speak sadly about the diminishing numbers of young people in our churches and yet we fail to ask the obvious question: Does it have to be this way? Or perhaps to rephrase the question in a more challenging way: what could I do to change things?

It is important to ask this question because we are not mere observers and the Gospel is not merely a description of the Christian life – we are participants and the Gospel is a call to action. I do not for one moment think that Jesus told this parable to describe the various ways of responding to God’s call on or lives but rather to draw to our attention to our calling as his followers.

And what is our calling? To make disciples of all nations or in other words to make Jesus known to everyone we encounter in our lives.  That might sound straightforward enough buts its not! It is counter-cultural – We live in a society which increasingly says that faith is a private concern; that it is a matter of individual devotion and fulfillment!  Who are we to tell others about this Jesus?!   And the tragedy is that we have largely given in to this pressure and allowed the Gospel to be marginalized by being ring-fenced in the private domain.  The truth is that the message of Jesus is personal but it is NOT private! It is of its very essence public! Jesus was and is political – Look at the beginning of his public ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth as recorded in Luke 4: “The Sprit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”.  Bear in mind that this is in the context of Roman oppression and try and argue that Jesus did not preach a radical political message. And this is no isolated passage  - look at the Sermon on the Mount and you see the same upturning of the social order! Yes Jesus is about the salvation of our souls but he is concerned for our bodies as well. He cared and cares about life before death as he cares about life after it! We must fight against this privatization of the Gospel. Dealing with this same compartmentalization of life, Steve Chalk in his recent book: ‘Intelligent Church’ quotes Archbishop Tutu who said: “If we are to say that religion cannot be concerned with politics, then we are really saying that there is a substantial part of human life in which God’s will does not run……If it is not God’s, then whose is it?

The Gospel does not exist in a vacuum – It had and continues to have deeply practical implications. A vital part of our calling is to prepare the ground for the Word of God.  We expect far too much of people if we think that they will become followers of Christ just because we tell them that it is the ‘right’ thing to do – As Chalke also comments, the theologian Walter Bruggeman once famously said – “people are not changed by moral exhortation but by transformed imagination”.  And maybe when we realize the truth of this it will release us from a burden because it just may be that we are trying too hard! Or to put it another way – we are trying to do the wrong thing! We are trying to make clones of ourselves when we are really called to make followers of Christ.  How many of us in bemoaning the disinterest of our children and others who we call ‘lapsed’ in our community of faith are really sharing the difference that Jesus makes in our lives? Young people in particular are hugely sensitive to integrity and genuine commitment and however much we preach the importance of ‘going to church’ it is a futile exercise if it is not rooted in and motivated by a love of Christ in us.

I think this is the real crisis the Church faces today – We are calling people into an institution when what they are craving is a relationship with God….a transformative relationship that empowers them to be the people that God wants them to be and to do the good that they are able to do.  We are not engaging effectively with the spiritual hunger that is out there!  We are not in the market place – we are not sharing the vision – we are keeping it to ourselves and denying it the air it needs to breathe and to flourish.

And what we are called to is infact very simple – As Chalke puts it:

‘It is not our job to make anyone believe. Our responsibility is simply to love God and love others….Our communities are transformed because through us, God walks our streets, feels their pain, hears their cries and responds to their need.”

It is in this way that the ground is made receptive to God’s Word – that it becomes Holy ground and we truly exercise our discipleship of Jesus. May we follow him and in that following inspire others to walk in his way.  Amen.

The best funeral sermon ever!

The First Anglican Church Service in Second Life

Time for something whacky! I am not sure that this comes under the heading of kitsch - This could be the future if we can't afford the fuel to put in our cars to go to church!

The new Boss has moved in!

Headed up to Dublin yesterday for the consecration of our new Bishop, Trevor Williams. The venue was Christ Church Cathedral and what a wonderful occasion it was. Beautiful music - as many bishops as you could shake a crozier at, though no sign of Bishop Brennan! We were also greatly honored to have the President in attendance - having recently attended our General Synod and now a Consecration I think she has become an Anglican by default! I wonder does she realize? ;-) The occasion was also noteworthy in the person of the preacher, one Dom Mark-Ephrem Nolan, Superior of the North's only Benedictine Monastery. I include his sermon below because it was nothing short of superb and a useful challenge to anyone who holds leadership within a Christian Church.
Only one small incident detracted from the general feel good factor of the day and that happened before the ceremony even began. I was sitting in the window of Jurys opposite the Cathedral sharing a sandwich with a few clerical colleagues including a now retired former bishop of Limerick who was wearing his episcopal purple. A man in his early thirties came over to the bishop and patted him on the back and said to him: 'Enjoy your breakfast which you are eating at the expense of the starving children in Africa!" and then he walked on laughing at his own dubious insight. My first thought was what about the beer you just had at the bar - you plonker!? At whose expense was that? - I was about to follow him and challenge him as the bishop was still a little stunned but I thought twice of a punch up before a consecration! Now that really would be a story!
It wasn't fear that held me back - I am a lot bigger than this individual - what held me back was the realization that this is how we in the institutional churches are perceived - hypocrites! No doubt this is sometimes deserved, though certainly not in this case where the bishop in question was the co-founder of Bothar, a charity that has done some great work in the Two-Thirds World and continues to do so! I wonder how our ignorant friend would have felt if he had known that?
But the fact remains - we as Church are seen as hypocrites and we will not change that by punch ups in hotels but by our actions. As long as people suffer and we live in relative comfort we will face this charge. It is not about to go away and perhaps it never will! To some we will always be hypocrites - all we can hope to do is make it harder for this label to stick. To some the events of yesterday might seem like outdated and irrelevant pomp and ceremony - to others including myself if was an inspiring mountain -top experience. But we cannot live on the mountain-top for ever - we must also come down to earth and engage with the world, however cynical it may be, and show this world that the Church exists for the world and not for itself.


Following is the text of the address by Dom Mark-Ephram Nolan OSB, Superior of the Holy Cross Benedictine Monastery, Rostrevor at the consecration of the Rt Revd Trevor Williams as Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Friday 11th July 2008.

Thank you, Archbishop John, for consenting to the invitation Trevor extended to me and in your turn welcoming me to Christ Church Cathedral. It is a great privilege to open God’s Word on this great day in this hallowed place.

We are one in the spirit we are one in the Lord!

That phrase captures something of what we feel today as we gather to celebrate this liturgy which has brought us together from right across the Christian family here in Ireland, north and south of the border, and from further afield. The Episcopal ordination and consecration of our friend and brother, Trevor, has brought us together in Jesus Christ.

The other day I asked Trevor if he had chosen a motto, a word from the Sacred Scriptures to guide him in his ministry. Let me read his e-mail response to me: I am inspired by the vision of Ephesians 1 & 2. Together in Jesus Christ seems a motto which catches much of what I want to share with others.

Trevor’s motto and accompanying remarks will come as no great surprise to those who know him. They are typical of the man.

A particular thrust and hallmark of his ministry up until now has been to bring people together in Christ – one immediately thinks of his work in the domain of the media, his membership of the Corrymeela community and the leadership role he played therein and of the work in which he was so wholeheartedly engaged in North Belfast until very recently.

To bring people together in Christ will undoubtedly stand at the heart of Trevor’s exercise of the new ministry confided to him today.

It cannot be otherwise, for this is Trevor’s particular charism, part of his personal gifting from the Lord which the Church has recognised and invites him to use now as Bishop for the good and for the up-building of the whole Body.

If the vision of Ephesians 1 & 2 inspires Trevor especially, can I propose that we consider for a few moments the overall vision and purpose of this Pauline Letter?

… In a phrase the overall vision and purpose of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians could be summed up as being to strengthen the believers in their relationship with God and with each other.

Trevor, can I make so bold as to exhort you to make this your primary intention as you undertake your new ministry in the service of the People of God in the diocese of Limerick and Killaloe and indeed in the whole Church of Ireland?
In the new ministry confided to you, seek to strengthen the believers in their relationship with God and with each other.

That is quite a mandate, I know.

You might ask: how can I do this?

To begin with, by strengthening your own relationship with the Lord, for this is the source from which all else will flow.

A key verse from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians comes to mind as I look at you, Trevor. It is found in chapter 6, verse 10: I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.

I am confident that the Lord’s mighty power is and will continue to be at work within you since, to quote the first reading heard today, it is the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh who has appointed you over the congregation to go out before them and to lead them out and bring them in.

Remember that it is the Lord Himself who has commissioned you.

Remember too, as Jesus always did, something you told me you learned from your mother as a child: namely, your Heavenly Father will always look after you.

… Remember that especially on those days when for whatever reason you begin to feel overcome with anxieties, doubts and fears and, as a result, feel tempted to lose confidence in God, in others and in yourself.

In encouraging you to develop an ever deeper personal relationship with Jesus, I am certainly not suggesting that you become caught up only in your own affairs; rather I am encouraging you to be Christ-centred in all the affairs of God’s People.

Remember that what the people ask of you as their bishop is that you be Christ-centred. This is what the people want you to be, not just for yourself, but for them.

They want you to be able to lead them to Jesus; they want you to be able to help them to come to know Christ better.

You owe it to the People of God whom you have been called to serve to be constantly in-touch with Jesus Christ, so that when you reach out to them they sense that it is Christ Himself who is ministering to them through you.

Remember, Trevor, it is Christ’s healing, His reconciliation, His new life and His hope you are called to bear witness to … this you will do effectively only if you are experiencing these graces constantly for yourself.

The gospel text we have heard today couldn’t be any clearer on the importance of a deep, loving, relationship with Christ.

Three times it asks you – as it asks all of us – this fundamental question: Do you love me?

The late Henri Nouwen judiciously remarks: We have to hear that question as being central to all of our Christian ministry, because it is the question that can allow us to be, at the same time, irrelevant and truly self-confident.

I like the word irrelevant that Nouwen dares to use here.

However much the word irrelevant may jar with those who are obsessed with their relevance, however hard it is for some of us to hear it, I am sure that it is a word that all the Churches in Ireland need to take to heart today, not with bitterness, not with sadness, not with regret – and certainly not with nostalgia for the good old days when we were, as we thought, so relevant … when, in fact, we were perhaps just far too dominant … domineering even!

The more discreet place the Christian Churches hold in Irish society today is a better place from which to truly minister. It should be seen as salutary. For, it brings us back to our real vocation which is to be yeast in the dough.

That we have lost some of our privilege is no bad thing.

It is good to be brought back to the gospel call not to want to lord it over others, but to stand in their midst as a humble servants. The Church is called to be the humble servant of the Lord in our world.

One of the greatest obstacles to true Christian witness is when we Christians take ourselves to be more important than we are and strive to cling to privilege.

The true Christian Leader – following the example of Christ Himself – and the Church in which he serves, should strive to be a self-effacing servant.

For, that’s how Jesus lived his ministry: in a self-effacing way.

We see this over and over again in the unfolding of the gospel story, but perhaps it is illustrated nowhere better that in that very beautiful Emmaus gospel scene where we see how once the disciples recognised the Risen Lord in the breaking of bread, suddenly He disappeared from before their eyes.

I suggest that perhaps our divided Churches could learn much from a contemplation of Christ’s self-effacement at this moment.

Was it not when Christ was no longer visible to Cleopas and his companion that they came to recognise Him in each other in a new way and that they realised that they were being called to return to the others whom they had left behind, the group still gathered in Jerusalem. When Jesus disappeared from their view the Emmaus road travellers felt the need to restore contact with their fellow disciples. When they sought these out their discovery was a confirmation of their own faith: Yes, it is true. He is alive! We have seen Him too! He has appeared to Simon Peter!

Like Cleopas and his companion, we all need to return to those from whom we have estranged ourselves in the wider community of the disciples.

The Jerusalem disciples welcomed the Emmaus pilgrims and shared their good news with them.
… He has appeared to Simon Peter!
We have an allusion there to the gospel story we have read today.

In the light of this beautiful gospel passage, let me remind you, Trevor, that the Lord’s call in your life – that you should serve as bishop – engages you to be for your brothers and sisters an icon of the Risen Jesus. It calls upon you to love and care for the sheep as He did. It calls upon you to show your love by tending to the flock to which He sends you.

Jesus asks: Do you love me? He goes on to say: Feed my lambs … look after my sheep … pasture them! To love Christ and to pasture the flock, this is to be the heart of your ministry. This ministry you are called to exercise not alone, but with others.

To speak of being together in Christ, as you do in your motto, implies that you work together with others in the various ministries which build up the Body of the Christ, the Church.

The opening words of this Service made that abundantly clear.

It is evidently your desire to minister with others. These others will be your brother bishops of the Church of Ireland, your brothers and sisters of the Episcopal order within the Anglican Communion worldwide (you prepare to meet with many of these at The Lambeth Conference – we cannot all but feel the call to hold the Communion in our prayer at this time when her unity is menaced), your desire will be to minister in close collaboration with the priests, deacons and readers of your Local Church … as indeed it will be to work together with all the People of God, over and beyond diocesan and denominational boundaries.

Among all the human relationships to which you should pay particular attention, Trevor, one you should seek especially to reinforce at this time is your covenant bond of love with Joyce. For, it is an essential part of your witness. This is also teaching drawn from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, teaching not to be forgotten: the love you share is a sacrament of Christ’s love for the Church.

As Bishop you will discover just how much people will look to you to give a lead. Please be wise here; don’t get things wrong in your response to them. Don’t be tempted to think, as they might be, that everything depends upon you. It doesn’t! In every authentic Christian ministry all depends upon Christ!

When people turn to you asking you to “fix things” for them, dare to disappoint them. Remind them that you simply can’t “fix” everything.

Your mission is to lead the people to see that we must all look together to Christ, whom the epistle to the Hebrews refers to as the one great Leader of our faith.

For this reason, let me come back to something I hinted at earlier when I picked up on Nouwen’s word irrelevant.

Don’t take yourself to be more relevant than you are! Don’t take yourself too seriously! Whatever else you do, don’t oust Christ. Don’t usurp His place.

While, as bishop, you do hold the place of Christ in your diocese, remember that this means that you are Christ’s lieu tenant; to hold Christ’s place is not to be His replacement.

If the Fathers of the Church could say that where the Bishop is there Christ is, remember that this only further underlines how important, how absolutely vital, it is for the Bishop to be where Christ is – in prayer before the Father!

I would like to end where I started. We are one in the Spirit we are one in the Lord. Those words came to my mind as I woke from sleep the other day in the form of the 1970’s Christian song with which you – and others here – will be familiar.

… To our shame maybe too many of us who once sang these lyrics in our churches, chaplaincies and meeting halls have forgotten them. Some may prefer to forget they ever sang them because they don’t ring as quite sophisticated enough to our now more refined ears.

… But, it would be a great pity to leave them entirely forgotten, for they commit us to work together in Christ.

And that is a commitment we really need to make in Ireland today – all of us! Thank you for reminding us of this.

So, by way of conclusion to this address, by way of inauguration of your ministry, let me quote that 1970’s song:

We are one in the spirit we are one in the Lord …
We pray that all unity will one day be restored …
We will walk with each other we will walk hand in hand …
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land …
We will work with each other we will work side by side …
We will serve each one’s dignity and guard each one’s pride …

To do that … Let’s set aside our privilege and crucify our pride!

Then they’ll know we are Christians by our love!
… They will know we are Christians by our love!

Amen!