Message from Bishop Robert, 1 August 2023

In this, my last contribution before I begin my sabbatical on Friday, I want to express my particular thanks to our retired clergy.

Among them are those who hold Permission to Officiate and as such are able to accept invitations to preach and lead worship in the parishes and communities of the Diocese, some regularly preaching and leading worship and serving, others simply leading the occasional service. There are others who no longer lead public worship yet still live out their ministry in many prayerful and quietly supportive ways. Each is a gift to the life of the church in our Diocese for which Bishop Rachel I are deeply grateful.

As I get to spend time with them, I am struck so often by the wisdom that they bring to the church, often from many years of experience of ministry, of walking and interpreting the joys and the challenges of the journey of life with the people of God. I am also so thankful for their faith rooted in a deep rhythm of prayer and understanding of the scriptures, and for their service. This sense of service is one of the significant markers of their ministry, for in retirement clergy with Permission to Officiate no longer hold the authority or responsibility of being an incumbent or chaplain, they have no assigned duties or rights, but offer a ministry of response to invitation and need that is given with grace.

For some there is understandably an initial struggle – what is my place when I no longer hold this office or title, but nearly always this is followed by liberation and a new delight in life given as a gift, not always easy, but to be lived with abundance in Christ. I am grateful for their leading of worship – in many places essential to maintain current patterns of worship, but I am even more grateful for their deeper gift of quiet faith and witness to the power and presence of Christ.

Writing of the Sabbath in his book of the same name, Abraham Heschel says, ‘He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity… of being yoked to toil and learn to understand the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man… on the Sabbath we especially care for the seeds of eternity planted in the soul.’

For those of us who live busy lives, there is wisdom to be learnt here and it may be that as we enter August, which for many of us may well be marked by living life with a different rhythm, there is opportunity for us to practise this discipline. As I begin the sabbath of sabbatical, I am thankful indeed for those who share this wisdom with us, clergy and lay, as we seek together to be disciples of the one who call us to life, whose yoke is easy and burden is light.