{"id":11891,"date":"2016-10-02T12:22:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T11:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/?p=11891"},"modified":"2016-10-02T12:37:05","modified_gmt":"2016-10-02T11:37:05","slug":"a-message-from-bishop-steven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/?p=11891","title":{"rendered":"An opening sermon from Bishop Steven"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bishop<\/a>
Bishop Steven<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inauguration as Bishop of Oxford<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christ Church Cathedral (30th September 2016)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 12.1-8 and Matthew 5.1-10<\/strong><\/p>\n

May I speak with humility, mercy and joy,<\/em><\/p>\n

May I speak of Jesus and his ways<\/em><\/p>\n

May I speak clearly and with boldness now and always.\u00a0 Amen.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for your welcome.\u00a0 Thank you for being here and for the different parts you play in this region, in the Church and in my own life.\u00a0 This is one of those moments when your whole life flashes before your eyes.<\/p>\n

I am in awe of the ministry entrusted to me this day as a Bishop in God\u2019s Church.\u00a0 I will be able to bear the weight of this ministry only by the grace of God and with your prayers and love and support.\u00a0 I look forward so much to the journey we will share together and to partnerships in the wider region, with other faith communities and other churches and with the Church across this Diocese.<\/p>\n

I come as a learner, a disciple .\u00a0 I\u2019d love to pin a large L Plate on the back of my cope today.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a small one on the inside here \u2013 and another one at this side.\u00a0 I look forward to learning from all of you and most of all from Jesus, whose disciple I strive to be with all my heart and with all my life.<\/p>\n

I come giving thanks for the life of the Church of England across this Diocese: for our parishes and schools, for all the ways in which the Church is a blessing to God\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

I come with deep appreciation for the ministry my predecessors: of Bishop Richard, for his sharpness of mind and the breadth of his vision; for Bishop John, for his pastoral wisdom and love; and for Bishop Colin who has guided this diocese now through two vacancies and has a deep place in the affections of the Church and of the region.\u00a0 I look forward to working with Colin and Alan and Andrew and Martyn and the rest of the senior team in the years to come.\u00a0 I look forward to all that God will continue to do as our lives are offered to God\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s call came long ago to Abraham and Sarah.\u00a0 Their story is sacred to more than half the people in the world today: to Jews and Christians and Muslims, It is the beginning. At the heart of the story is blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the LORD said to Abram\u2026\u201dI will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing\u2026and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed\u201d.<\/p>\n

This sacred story has shaped the history of the world and shapes it still.\u00a0 The story reminds us that God calls us. God loves us and knows us and would walk with us and speak with us.\u00a0 God calls us to deeper and longer journeys through all of our lives and beyond the horizon of our death God calls us home.<\/p>\n

The story reminds us that the LORD \u00a0offers his blessing to all who follow that call.\u00a0 \u201cI will bless you\u201d.\u00a0 God is good.\u00a0 God longs to give all people what is good.\u00a0 In God\u2019s blessings we discover again who we really are.<\/p>\n

And the story reminds us that we are blessed by God in order to become a blessing to others. \u201cI will make your name great so that you will be a blessing\u2026In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks everyone will sooner or later need to ask three questions: \u201cWho am I?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhy am I here?\u201d \u201cHow then shall I live?\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

We find the answers in this sacred story.\u00a0 We find our identity in God\u2019s love, in God\u2019s blessing.\u00a0 We find our purpose and our way of life in seeking to be a blessing to others.\u00a0 This holds true for families, for churches and for nations.<\/p>\n

If we know longer know who we are as a nation, we will find the answers in God\u2019s grace and blessing.\u00a0 If we no longer understand our purpose and our role in the world, we will find it again in seeking to be a blessing to others.<\/p>\n

Abraham and Sarah received God\u2019s blessing in faith.\u00a0 They trusted God and followed God\u2019s call.\u00a0 In time God gave them children.\u00a0 Their descendants through Isaac and Rebekah became a great nation.\u00a0 To that nation, God entrusted his greatest blessing, Jesus Christ his Son, born of Mary, given so that all the families of the earth might be blessed.<\/p>\n

Jesus Christ revealed God\u2019s love in life and word and deed.\u00a0 He called his disciples, like Abraham, to leave their homes and occupations.\u00a0 In the Sermon on the Mount he taught them what it means to be blessed and to be a blessing to others.<\/p>\n

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who know their need of God.\u00a0 Blessed are those who mourn, those who are grieved for the suffering in God\u2019s world.\u00a0 Blessed are the meek, those who long for justice, the merciful and the pure.\u00a0 Blessed are the peacemakers and those who will bear the cost of their discipleship.<\/p>\n

In the gospels, Jesus lives this life of blessing.\u00a0 He walks closely with God.\u00a0 His heart breaks.\u00a0 He speaks out for the poor.\u00a0 He is merciful to the outcast. He is humble and holy and willing to walk the way of the cross.<\/p>\n

Jesus offers his one, sinless and perfect human life so that the whole of creation can be blessed and reconciled to God.\u00a0 Jesus is crucified that we might be forgiven.\u00a0 God raised him from the dead so that all of us can enter life.\u00a0 God poured out his Holy Spirit that we might know in the depths of our being that we are called and loved and blessed in order to be a blessing to all the people of the earth.<\/p>\n

In every place in this diocese and across the world, the Church of Jesus is called to be like Jesus.\u00a0 We are called and blessed that we might be a blessing.<\/p>\n

We are a company of pilgrims who know our need of God who ground our lives in prayer and worship and scripture.\u00a0 We are called to be a community of kindness and gentleness and mercy.\u00a0 We are called to be a outspoken for justice and for the poor.\u00a0 We are called to find the paths of holiness, to bear the cost of our discipleship, to recreate the peace of the world, and to walk always with humility before God and others.<\/p>\n

We are called to be the Church of the Beatitudes: to know that we are blessed and to seek always to be a blessing to the communities we serve.<\/p>\n

There are more than 800 churches in this diocese of Oxford and many more communities meeting in schools and colleges and chaplaincies.<\/p>\n

All of those churches bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Local churches provide meaning, which help people make sense of their lives and find the paths of salvation and blessing.\u00a0 In every church we should constantly be offering ways to help adults and children encounter and understand the love of God revealed in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Churches are communities which provide deep listening and attention and give value to individuals.\u00a0 They are places where people are known by name, where people come for blessing at the beginning and end of life and many life stages in between.<\/p>\n

Churches draw people together from different backgrounds.\u00a0 They create networks of relationships and the confidence vital to our prosperity.\u00a0 Churches offer communities in which people can invest together and create a legacy, They are communities which combat loneliness and isolation endemic in society.\u00a0 Churches at their best bring vitality and perspective to the whole of life.<\/p>\n

Churches attempt great things together with the aim of blessing others.\u00a0 We attempt great things in the field of education: offering the best possible education with Christian values to more than 55,000 pupils in 282 schools.\u00a0 We attempt great things through our chaplaincies in universities and prisons and hospitals and the armed forces.\u00a0 We attempt great things in creative partnerships with local government and the voluntary sector, making life better for all kinds of people. We attempt great things in social action, in building cohesion, in relieving poverty, in campaigns for justice, in our care for the earth.\u00a0 The mission of the Church is the work of every Christian, of the whole people of God, called and blessed and changed, scattered like salt and called to be a blessing to God\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

We are far from perfect.\u00a0 It is a clich\u00e9 but it is true.\u00a0 The biggest room in any Church, the biggest room in any diocese and the biggest room in any bishop is always the room for improvement.\u00a0 I begin this new ministry conscious of my own weaknesses and imperfections.\u00a0 As a Church we continue to wrestle with questions of ministry, of sexuality, of protecting the vulnerable, of unity, of the call to change.<\/p>\n

Sometimes those questions and imperfections can seem overwhelming. In those moments we need to return to the beginning:\u00a0 to God\u2019s call to Abraham and Sarah; to Jesus gathering his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount; to the call to rediscover blessing and become in turn a blessing to God\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Who am I?\u00a0 Why am I here?\u00a0 How shall I then live?<\/p>\n

Who are we?\u00a0 Why are we here together?\u00a0 How shall we then live?<\/p>\n

We are a people called by God.\u00a0 We are called to know God\u2019s blessing.\u00a0 We are called to bless others .<\/p>\n

We are the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of the Beatitudes.<\/p>\n

And we are called to be a blessing to God\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Jonathan Sacks, Not in God\u2019s Name, Confronting Religious Violence, p. 13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inauguration as Bishop of Oxford Christ Church Cathedral (30th September 2016) Genesis 12.1-8 and Matthew 5.1-10 May I speak with humility, mercy and joy, May I speak of Jesus and his ways May I speak clearly and with boldness now and always.\u00a0 Amen. Thank you for your welcome.\u00a0 Thank you for being here and for the different parts you play in this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","ctfw-no-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11891"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11899,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11891\/revisions\/11899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}