Eurobishop

Many people assume that the only Anglican congregation in Finland is in Helsinki. Of course, this is where Anglican work began in the country. However today the work is expanding with congregations or occasional services in such places as Kerava, Kuopio, Oulu, Pori, Salo, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa. On Sunday 7 February, during a pastoral visit to St Nicholas's Helsinki, I was able to commission the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, the chaplain, to be Assistant Area Dean for Finland. Fr Tuomas’ ministry as Assistant Area Dean will include providing pastoral care and support for the clergy and people of our congregations in Finland, outside Helsinki (except Espoo, which is part of St Nicholas Chaplaincy). Priests from the Church of Finland joined us for the Sunday celebration, including the Very Revd Matti Poutiainen, the Dean of Helsinki Cathedral (seen below giving a gift to Fr Tuomas) and the Revd Dr Jaakko Rusama, Co-Moderator of the Anglican-Lutheran Society. I am grateful that Fr ...

Last week saw the beginning of another programme to address the refugee and migrant crisis, jointly funded by United Society (formerly USPG) and donations sent to the Anglican Chaplaincy in Athens. Each week 400 meals provided by this Anglican project are distributed between two detention centres on the outskirts of Athens. In these centres irregular migrants are incarcerated for at least six months largely because their papers are not in order. The living conditions are grim. Representatives from United Society visited one of the centres recently. The authorities responsible for the centres and staff attached to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) were heartened that such a programme could be made available - limited as it is. The (Roman Catholic) Sisters of Mercy are also providing a similar programme once a week. This programme will last until the end of April and then be reviewed. The pictures are of Amigdaleza Detention Centre on the night when the first mea...

The largest Archdeaconry Synod in the diocese has just concluded its sessions. A sign of the good health of the archdeaconry was that only 3 absences were recorded from the clergy and lay representatives who are connected to our over 60 congregations in Morocco, Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal and Andorra. Archdeacon Geoff Johnston preached an inspiring sermon at the closing eucharist, in which he commended three "hums" to the members present, as touchstones for their life as Christians in this Archdeaconry: Hum ility, Hum our and Hum anity. It was a busy few days, which included bible study led by the Revd Deborah Chapman of Barcelona, spiritual input from Bishop Bill Godfrey of Peru, updates on safeguarding in the Church from Safeguarding Manager Ian Carter, the diocesan strategy from David Coulston, the appointments processes in the diocese from Appointments Secretary Catherine Jackson, and vocations to Holy Orders from Canon William Gulliford the Director of Ordinands. Plus mu...

21 Readers and trainee Readers from the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar gathered on Tuesday 2 February for a day's workshop prior to the full meeting of the Archdeaconry Synod. Deacon Frances Hiller led the workshop in which the role of Readers (Licensed Lay Ministers) in discipleship training in their congregations was explored in depth. As theologically and pastorally trained lay ministers, Readers have an advantage of knowing the challenges of living the Christian life day to day as members of the laity, in the workplace, at home, and in community life and service. They "know the soil" in which the seed of the Gospel is to be planted and nurtured and therefore have an important role, complementing that of the clergy, in equipping the members of the Church for active lives as disciples. Deacon Frances opened up the theme of catechesis - teaching the faith - and introduced in detail a new programme produced by the Church of England to encourage deeper exploration and underst...