Sodor and Man: Renewing the Vision

Sodor and Man: Renewing the Vision

The Bishop’s Address to Diocesan Synod, 9 March 2022

 

When we met as Diocesan Synod on 30 November last year, I stated that

  • Renewal, Faithfulness, Generosity is the Vision.
  • Anointed and rooted in God, we work together for Renewal, which will be visible in Faithfulness and Generosity is the Vision Statement.

Today, I want to look at how that might work out in practice, and why it is important.

To put it simply, what might this Vision look like?

Let me take us first through Renewal.

  • I begin with Spiritual and Liturgical Renewal.  The Liturgical part is vital:  taking care over how we worship, over music and preaching, over the blend of dignity and joy.
  • Affirm the relationship between person and congregation, congregation and parish, parish and Mission Partnership.  These relationships are mutually supportive and renewing.
  • Strengthen the link from worshipping community to local civic community: spiritual renewal leading to social regeneration.
  • Reshape ourselves as the Church that exists primarily for those outside its walls.  ‘Social Liturgy’ is vital: sometimes the most important gift of all.
  • Implement Safeguarding to the highest standard.  We call it Safeguarding but we understand it as Safe-caring.  It is a Renewal of our relationship of care for one another.  It has a particular concern for the most vulnerable and isolated among us.

For Faithfulness:

  • See faith as a journey: it must always have momentum and direction, leading towards God.  It operates on all dimensions: forwards, upwards, deeper.
  • It is a journey that will take us into exploration of every aspect of our life, both personal and public, with reference to ‘Setting God’s People Free’.
  • It is a journey on which we walk alongside each other, encouraging and sharing along the way, and cultivating a love and deep reverence for learning together and for the study of scripture and of our faith.
  • We recognise the supreme importance of young people, including young adults, and we seek to nurture them and to impart a framework of direction for their lives.
  • Education is the constant process of learning, both for the mind and for the soul. and we have to commit ourselves to this process if it is to allow us to develop and grow.  Emmanuel Theological College is a resource, indeed a gift and a grace, that we have received in order to help with this.

What might Generosity look like?

  • Generosity is a mark of the Gospel, and it needs to be visible in the life and personality of every Christian.  It is the opposite of self-centredness, and it always looks outward.
  • Generosity always looks for the best and never the worst.
  • Generosity makes us prepared to be vulnerable.
  • Be generous to each other; generous to other congregations and parishes; generous with our gifts in God’s service.
  • Be adventurous, confident, creative and imaginative, not held back by timidity or undue caution.
  • Be generous to yourself, to the environment, to your neighbour and neighbourhood.
  • We are called to be generous with our possessions and with all the blessings that God gives us.

 

May God, who gives us the will to do these things, give us also the strength and the grace to achieve them.

In Christ

+ Peter

9 March 2022

Please follow this link Diocesan Vision Feb 22 for the full vision document.