Eurobishop

St John the Baptist, herald of justice Advent for us in the northern hemisphere is at the time of the shortest days of the year. In the midst of the Advent darkness we have today's Gaudete Sunday, the title taken from the ancient introit, " Rejoice (Gaudete)  in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near". The hint of promised joy which will pierce our darkness is seen as we light the third candle on the Advent wreath, which is normally pink, and with rose vestments at the mass instead of the more sombre purple. Today's Gospel features the great Advent figure, St John the Baptist. The writer of the Fourth Gospel proclaims, "He came as a witness to testify to the light".  Last week on the agenda of the diocesan synod were some matters of justice: the care for God's creation and the renunciation of all forms of racism. We also were introduced to the Church of England-wide process, Living in Love and Faith , a comprehensive study of jus...

House of Clergy Chair Fr Tuomas Mäkipää (l) with Fr John Perris and Ms Cynthia D'Alimonte the (US) Episcopal Church Reps.   The Diocesan Synod, the body that draws together elected representatives of clergy and lay people from across the Diocese, is composed of three “houses”. The House of Bishops consists of Bishop Robert and myself. Then there is the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. As this was the start of a triennium, the Houses of Clergy and Laity met during the recent Synod to elect their chairs, who then become vice-presidents of the Synod. The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, the Chaplain of St Nicholas Helsinki and Assistant Area Dean for Finland, was elected chair of the House of Clergy. Mr David Coulston, a parishioner in St Andrew’s Puerto Pollensa, Mallorca was elected chair of the House of Laity. Both are also members of General Synod from our Diocese. Congratulations to them both. House of Laity Chair Mr David Coulston shares a joke with Area Dean of France ...

Dr Harry Hagopian at the Kardinal Schulte Haus, Cologne For the last couple of years, the refugee situation has been on the agenda of the Diocesan Synod. At this last Synod held in Cologne from 13 to 17 June, we continued our education and reflection but this time returning to the causes of the present crises. To lead our discussion we were privileged to hear from Dr Harry Hagopian who shared perspectives on the "shuddering political and demographic upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the past five years" which are producing the large numbers of refugees. Dr Hagopian is a lawyer who holds a doctorate in Public International Law and an LL.M in Alternative Dispute (Conflict) Resolution. He is the Middle East Advisor for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in England & Wales and works also with the Vatican, Lambeth Palace, Majlis El-Hassan and the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Jordan, Minority Rights Group International in England, as we...

Everyone in the Diocese knows we have a Communications Officer, the Revd Paul Needle. However most  people know of him only through his work, the Diocesan Website, the European Anglican , and other publications and communications projects. Because he is usually on the other side of the camera, snapping pictures of us we rarely get a glimpse of Paul himself. So here is my photo of Paul hard at work at the recent meeting of the Diocesan Synod. Many thanks Paul for your outstanding work in keeping our Diocese connected!

The Synod of the Diocese in Europe which meets annually in a residential setting for the inside of a week, has just concluded another set of sessions with its usual packed agenda.  It may not be widely known that our Diocesan Secretary, Mr Adrian Mumford, who is responsible for the synod's business and life, is also one of the finest organists in the Church! The week-long meetings are punctuated by times of prayer and worship each day in the Chapel of St Edith Stein in Kardinal Schulte Haus in Cologne where we gather. Adrian is the organist (and at times choirmaster) for these services. The members of synod find his playing both inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable during the busy week. We are very grateful to Adrian for this very special gift to us, as well as for everything else he does in his "day job"!

In late June I gave a lecture in Santander, Spain, about Vatican II and its ecumenical impact. Following the lecture there was a lively discussion among the mostly Roman Catholic audience. They recognised that one of the main differences between Anglicans and Roman Catholics is the place of laity and clergy, as well as of bishops, in the governance of the Church. The Church of England, like the Roman Catholic Church, is an episcopal church, and share a common understanding of the ministry of bishops. But the government of the Church of England is not by bishops alone, but by bishops  in synod.  Which brings me to an important observation: We are at a key moment in the three year cycle of the governance of our Diocese. There are  just 3 weeks left for nominations to be made for the new sessions of Diocesan Synod which will run for 3 years from 2013-2015. Elections will be held for both the House of Laity and the House of Clergy. Elected members are l...

The safeguarding of children in our Church is paramount.  This clear statement of our Church's commitment was reaffirmed at the Synod of the Diocese in Europe at its meeting in Cologne, from 11 to 15 June, when an updated policy on Safeguarding (formerly known as “child protection”) was introduced and explained.  Chris Lees, the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer together with the Diocesan Communications Officer, Paul Needle, highlighted the major new element in the updated policy, which is a procedure for the safe recruiting of volunteers who may have regular contact with children and vulnerable adults. Up to now, robust procedures for the safe recruitment of licensed workers (clergy and readers) are in place, but not for general volunteers who may hold positions of trust in our congregations, such as teaching Sunday School. All new volunteers recruited for such positions must now have the normal background checks completed. The procedure for the safe recruitment of volu...

Two acting or interim archdeacons were commissioned by Bishop Geoffrey at the diocesan synod in Cologne on 12 June. T he Revd Ian Naylor (above left), priest-in-charge of St Andrew's Pau, was appointed Acting Archdeacon of France and t he Revd Canon Meurig Williams (above right), Bishop Geoffrey's Chaplain was appointed Acting Archdeacon of North West Europe.  These interim appointments enable the essential work of archdeacons to continue in this time of transition as the Diocese works towards implementing the plan to replace the 7 part-time archdeacons with 4 full-time ones. We wish Fr Ian and Fr Meurig every blessing in their additional responsibilities.

Christian Faith in Europe: Residual or Potential . This was the intriguing title for a presentation given to the Synod of the Diocese in Europe on 12 June by the Revd Dr Keith  Clements, the former General Secretary of the European Conference of Churches, and a Baptist minister.  Dr Clements outlined four dimensions of Christian life in modern Europe, which resonated deeply with the experience of members of our own diocese, and which gave an analysis which will be very helpful as we seek to minister in the complex Europe of 2012: Migration: Europe is part of a migratory world (one in 35 people in the world today is a migrant) Secularisation: Churches are home to a wide spectrum of belief and unbelief. Are some of us Anglican, but not Christian?! Inherited Christendom is replaced by "Conscious Choice" Christianity, the move from "national church" to "a gathered church" The phenomenon of "vicarious Christianity". To what extent is this ...

On Thursday the Synod of the Diocese in Europe debated the following motion concerning women in episcopate which was referred by the General Synod: " That this Synod approve the proposal embodied in the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure and in draft Amending Canon No. 30".   The motion passed. I am in favour of women in the episcopate, but I do not believe that the  provision for those who are opposed to this development, contained in the measure, is sufficient to maintain the highest degree of unity in our Church. I therefore had to vote against the motion. I explained my position in a speech which I post below:

How is the draft legislation concerning women bishops to be dealt with in our diocese? Article 8 of the Constitution of the General Synod provides that certain kinds of legislation may not receive the final approval of the General Synod unless they have first been approved by the majority of diocesan synods. The draft legislation to permit the consecration of women bishops falls into this category. Due to a quirk of our diocesan constitution (which was put in place before we had a diocesan synod), it is to our Bishop's Council that Article 8 business must be referred. In October the Bishop's Council looked at this matter. It took account of the fact that we now have a diocesan synod, so it makes sense for this wider body to have an opportunity to give the proposed legislation full consideration. T he Bishop's Council thus noted the Article 8 referral and then resolved: (a) to remit discussion of the matter to the next meeting of the Diocesan Synod; (b) to request th...

The Diocesan Synod has accepted the results of an audit of the Communications work of the diocese and has adopted some recommendations which came out of the review. Rachel Harden, (Senior Communications Officer for the Archbishops' Council of the Church of England) conducted the audit and was impressed that a diocese with such unique communications challenges, spread over 45 countries, had such a good system in place. For instance, v ery strong appreciation was expressed for the work of the Revd Paul Needle, our Communications Officer, and for the work of Simon Sarmiento , the Website editor. An expansion of their roles was recommended as was the creation of a regular email bulletin, the use of online meeting systems, creating archdeaconry representatives for our publications, and attention to new media such as podcasts and video clips (perhaps for specific areas of training). The format of the printed Yearbook will be examined with a view to streamlining. The aud...

The Diocesan Synod meets from 24 to 28 May at Kardinal Schulte Haus in Cologne,  Germany (see photo below). Close to 70 clergy and lay representatives of our 7 archdeaconries will be joined by the bishops and the diocesan staff for this annual meeting. About 1/3 are new members elected at the start of this new triennium . The agenda includes the discussion of a report of a communications audit undertaken at the request of the Communications and Publications Committee, which has examined the present vehicles for diocesan communication and the unique challenges we face in serving 45 countries. Several key recommendations will be considered as a communications strategy for the future is framed. A major report will be received from the Strategic Review Group  which was set up in 2008 to investigate the resources required to implement the model for a leadership structure in the diocese which was approved by the Synod that year, a structure centred on a diocesan bishop, two ...