Message from Bishop Rachel, 8 July 2025

For all sorts of reasons, I have been thinking a lot about the significance of numbers this week. Some of those numbers are about anniversaries:  On Sunday it was a joy and delight to participate in a celebration of Thanksgiving for Stroud General Hospital which has been on the current site for 150 years. Then yesterday, on the fifth anniversary of Jason’s licensing it was good to thank him for his ministry as Bishop’s Chaplain. I was also deeply aware that it was the 20th anniversary of the London terror attacks, and I thought back to how it had been in London on that day in 2005.

In recent days, I have been aware of many deacons and priests who have been marking anniversaries of ordinations at this time of year. I cannot believe that on Tuesday 22 July (The Feast of Mary Magdalene), I will personally mark the 10^th anniversary of my consecration in Canterbury Cathedral. I am deeply touched that there will be a special Evensong in the Cathedral at 5.30pm as we give thanks for the witness of Mary Magdalene, and as I mark my consecration with joy and with thanksgiving for the privilege of sharing in ministry across this diocese. I would love as many people as possible to be there, so do please share this invitation with your worshipping communities.

I am sure that in recent days, you or those around you, will have been marking anniversaries perhaps of joy and delight, such as birthdays or weddings; or anniversaries of sadness, perhaps of death, loss or leavings.

In my role as Anglican Bishop to HM Prisons, I am aware of those difficult number markers for those in prison as they acknowledge the years they have served and the years they still have left.

This July I have launched an initiative in Gloucestershire called  ‘Voices of Youth’ which is all about listening to what young people think prison is for and what would make society a better place. I am asking everyone to encourage young people in Gloucestershire aged 13 to 18 years, to complete a quick anonymous short survey on their views of the criminal justice system Voices of Youth – Diocese of Gloucester. I would love to see a high number of young people completing this survey.

In addition, this week I will be hosting online meetings with small groups of young people from local secondary schools. Their views and those captured in the survey will be collated ahead of a gathering in Parliament later this year, for MPs and peers to hear from young people as we continue to work for prison reform and appropriate change, in order to transform our local communities, and change the numbers in the criminal justice system.

As I sign off this letter, I wonder what numbers are significant in your life this week — and whether they are associated with celebration or sadness. Whatever your story, I end with this well-known blessing from the Book of Numbers:

‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.’ (Numbers 6:24-26)

With my thanks and prayers ever,