22 July 2025, The Feast of Mary Magdalene
Click here to watch the livestream of the service.
Thank you for being here. Thank you to those across this diocese for the privilege of sharing in ministry with you – And to everyone, thank you for sharing in life together as we navigate its complexities, its joys and its pain.
I never expected that 10 years ago I would be kneeling in Canterbury Cathedral alongside Sarah Mullally (now Bishop of London), as we were consecrated as bishops in the Church of God. And that service of consecration, as with this service today, is about who we are together in this world; and who those who identify as followers of Jesus Christ are called to be as the Church – yes, with its ordering of bishops, priests and deacons, yet only ever to enable the whole church to witness to God’s love and to work for the coming of God’s kingdom.
I could not have been more delighted to be consecrated on 22 July – the Feast of Mary Magdalene – not colluding with the unsubstantiated tales of immorality and sexual shame, but rather celebrating the gospel truth of her being one of the foremost followers of Jesus Christ.
When she stood at the foot of the cross on which Jesus had been strung up to die, it felt as if life had gone horribly wrong; and three days later on that first Easter morning Mary goes to visit the place of Jesus’ burial and the nightmare has grown worse… the body has gone. So, there is Mary standing outside the tomb weeping, desolate, and a seeming stranger asks her a question: ‘why are you weeping?’
And then the man speaks her name, and it is then that Mary recognises Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.
I love this encounter for so many reasons, not least because it is about being loved and known and called by name, which is true of every one of us here.
At every consecration service we hear the words: “Bishops are called to serve and care for the flock of Christ. Mindful of the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, they are to love and pray for those committed to their charge, knowing their people and being known by them.”
Today, I am glad to carry the shepherd’s crozier given to me at my consecration. We gather here together as one flock, known, loved and called by name.
Please forgive me when I have failed to live relationship well or adequately, but I have endeavoured to place great importance on those words, ‘…they are to love and pray for those committed to their charge, knowing their people and being known by them’.
Alongside Bishop Robert, I have sought to get to know the people and places of this diocese, and not least the clergy committed to my charge and who share in the so called ‘cure of souls’. I take seriously that call to love and pray for those committed to my charge – to name the people and places of this diocese in prayer.
I am deeply grateful for the culture of relationship in this diocese – and I hope you have heard me frequently underline the truth that every human being is created in the image of God and created to live in relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and that is because relationship is at the heart of who God is. So when Jesus speaks Mary’s name it is not a one-off happening: It is because here stands the risen Jesus Christ continuing to reveal who God is, the God whose love is stronger than even death itself, and to whom every person is known, and to whom God offers forgiveness and mercy.
In Canterbury Cathedral 10 years ago, it was a privilege to have the then Bishop of Stepney, Adrian Newman, preach the sermon. Adrian was the bishop with whom I worked closely as Archdeacon of Hackney, and Adrian charged myself and Bishop Sarah to socialise – to live relational leadership for social transformation and join in with the bringing in of the kingdom of God.
Over the past 10 years every time I have visited a school or a place in the community or a prison (in my role as Bishop to HM Prisons), I have a tried to find a moment to articulate that I am no more important than those with whom I am gathered. Yes, called in this season to be Bishop and to take up my authority as such, but I am first and foremost Rachel, a child of God, known by name as is every person; And it is my desire that every child, young person and adult across this diocese (and beyond) might flourish, and go on becoming who God has created them to be in every season of life. And of course, I long for every person to encounter Jesus Christ, who will always be discovered and known in and through relationship.
There are many things that bring tears to my eyes, but one of those is when as a bishop I have the privilege of confirming people, publicly proclaiming their faith for themselves. As I look at each one and mark them with the sign of the cross, it is a poignant privilege to pronounce ‘God has called you by name and made you his own.’
Yet in my passion for each person to know the love of God, and in the power of the Holy Spirit to hear Christ speak their name, I am equally passionate to articulate and live that mysterious truth that this is not about individualism – it is about how we go on becoming in relationship.
In that consecration sermon 10 years ago, Bishop Adrian also charged us to subvert: socialise and subvert. I like to think I might have done a little of that, but I also believe that a commitment to relationship and social transformation which we endeavour to live across this diocese, is in itself subversive.
We live in a world and society in which people so quickly walk away from each other, attack each other whether in words, on social media or literally in full blown war. We live in times in which people are so often angry, and so quick to blame and to accuse, and in such a world and society that commitment to relationship and community, with those like us and with those we too easily identify as ‘other, that is something so seriously lacking. The way of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God is very different.
And our calling to subvert and socialise is most supremely expressed every time we gather to celebrate Holy Communion. In the consecration service we are told that bishops are to gather God’s people and celebrate with them the sacraments.. ‘Thus formed into a single communion of faith and love, the Church in each place and time is united with the Church in every place and time.’ Communion. Relationship. Lived in the present, rooted in the past, and sent out committed to future transformation… which takes me back to Mary Magdalene…
After Mary has encountered the risen Christ, she is told by him to go and tell – and she does. She is the first apostle – a woman – amazing.
It’s not quite the tenth anniversary of my inauguration here in Gloucester (that didn’t happen until September 2015), but at that service I spoke about ‘trailing the wet footprints of our baptism wherever we go’ – authentically sharing the love and hope of Jesus Christ in who we are among the people and places of daily life – in our places of joy and in our places of pain; in our brokenness as well as our loveliness.
And it is my hope and prayer that in this diocese, and indeed as Christ’s Church, through the power of the Holy Spirit we will be ever more committed to relationship and transformation, humbly confident in discovering and sharing life in all its fullness as offered us in Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, who knows us, loves us and calls us by name.
Amen
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