To:
All Clergy
Date:
15 October 2012
Our Ref: TS/maf-bp4420
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
GENERAL SYNOD VOTE ON WOMEN BISHOPS
As you will all know, the final approval stage of the Measure providing for women to be ordained as
Bishops will be debated in the General Synod on 20 November. Whatever the outcome of that
debate, it will have a significant impact on the Church of England and the way it is perceived in the
wider community. It will also, no doubt, have a significant impact on all of us in this Diocese in one
way or another.
If the vote receives the necessary two thirds majority, then there will be many who may wish to
come together to give thanks and to pray for the Church in the light of this new opportunity. Others,
who cannot welcome this development in conscience, will of course not share in that sense of
thanksgiving.
Alternatively, in the event of a no vote, it is likely that many clergy and lay people will feel troubled
about the future of the Church and may wish to come together to hear about the next steps and to
support each other in prayer.
At this stage, whatever the outcome, I have felt it right to arrange that our Cathedral will be open and
available for a time of prayer, reflection and conversation at 7.30 pm on Friday, 23 November. I will
be present as indeed will colleagues from the Bishop’s Staff and no doubt some of our General
Synod representatives. I hope this will be a chance both for clergy and lay people to share their
reactions, hopes and commend the whole Church into God’s hands for the future.
The Cathedral will also be open for a time of prayer and vigil from 8.00 am to 6.15 pm on Tuesday
20 November with a prayer station assigned in the Great South Aisle. Please do come along and
pray for our representatives as they debate and vote on legislation to enable women to be
consecrated as Bishops in the Church of England. Please note the usual daily pattern of prayer will
continue in the Cathedral – 8.00 am Morning Prayer, 1.00 pm Eucharist with prayers for healing,
5.30 pm Choral Evensong.
I will be writing to you again in the light of the Synod debate shortly after the 20 November vote.
DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND 2013
I am pleased to announce that I will be leading a diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the
autumn of 2013, from 29 October to 7 November inclusive.
You will know that the Christian community in the Holy Land is significantly marginalized and needs
our prayerful and practical support. The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged all the English
dioceses to ensure that the Holy Land remains in the front of our minds. At a recent conference to
encourage dioceses to visit the Holy Land, he shared his views on why as Christians we ought to
visit the most special of places, saying:
“We are aware, as Christians, that our faith has roots in a particular time and a particular place. This
soil [the Holy Land], these stones, have been touched by the reality that has made us alive and set
us on fire. We go to the Holy Land, I suggest, partly to reconnect with what has brought us alive in a
particular way. The events that brought us alive happened here; we go there because of that. And
we go there in the hope and the prayer that that life will be renewed in us We are up against that
tension between the act and purpose of God and what human beings do with it. If we are going to
go more deeply into what God did to change the world in Palestine, we also have to go more deeply
into the ways in which we and others have taken that gift and made it often something toxic,
something destructive, and at the very least something deeply conflict-ridden”
Our visit will allow us to be challenged in our Christian faith as we encounter the ancient stones of
our faith, alongside the political and social challenges that face the Christian living stones and the
nation of Israel.
I look forward as Bishop to leading this pilgrimage. Although the cost is high (around £1600), I want
to encourage as many people as possible to travel with me, and therefore I am looking to find ways
of helping those not able to afford the cost to travel. The travel company we are using is making
some free places available and I am looking at securing other funds to help subsidise some places.
There is also the opportunity for those who can afford it to pay a little extra to help those who would
find the cost difficult.
As clergy you may well want to accompany me on this pilgrimage. You also have an important role
in identifying and nurturing those who may well benefit from such a visit. Can I ask that you think
through whether there is anyone you are in contact with who may benefit from this pilgrimage and
whose faith may be strengthened.
If you know cost will be an influencing factor for yourself or someone you identify, please do be in
touch with the Revd Kevin Ashby (The Rectory, 57 Burton Road, Melton Mowbray LE13 1DL.
Phone: 01664 410393. Email: kevinashby@meltonparish.org.uk), in the first instance, who is
coordinating the trip.
There will shortly be full brochure and other publicity published for this pilgrimage, available on the
diocesan website and in print from. Can I ask that you draw this exciting opportunity for the whole
diocese to the attention of all those in your pastoral care, through parish newsletters and magazines.
With my prayers and warm good wishes as ever,
The Rt Revd Tim Stevens
Email: bishop.tim@leccofe.org