April 2020 Archived Updates
April 29th Update
Dear Friends,
This week Archbishop Justin launched Daily Hope, a free national phone line offering music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services by telephone. As much of our ministry has moved online due to the closure of churches, we know that many of you have concerns for those members of our communities who do not have access to the internet, and may be most isolated at this time.
The new free phone line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind. Callers will hear a special greeting from the Archbishop before being able to choose from a range of options, including hymns, prayers, reflections and advice on COVID-19. We hope that you will be able to offer this phone line to members of your community who may benefit from it, and that it will be a useful tool in support of your own ministry, offering hope and encouragement to those in your communities who are struggling. Further information about the phone line is available here.
It remains vitally important that we all remember to take time to care for our own wellbeing even while we are busy responding to the needs of our communities. As part of St Luke’s Clergy Wellbeing Programme, Kate Wiebe has offered some useful advice on how to deal with the ongoing emotional impact of a crisis and attend to your own wellbeing in a time when ordinary healthy rhythms have been lost. We recommend you read her thoughts on how to make a start on long-term recovery from crisis, available here
With our prayers for you
all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
April 24th Update
Real Society
Early
in our social distancing Boris Johnson created a bit of a stir when he
said, “There really is such a thing as society….” People naturally
compared it to Margaret Thatcher’s,
“…there is no such thing as society.”
Although
being in agreement with Margaret Thatcher is unusual for me, in this
case the importance of her words has largely been lost by repeated
misuse. A longer quotation reveals that she was commenting that there is
no such thing as a society in isolation from its individual members.
They can and should be its active participants. To this extent she was
quite clearly correct. She went on to image society as like a contract
emerging from a trade of individual rights and obligations, and this is
where I begin to part ways. This fairly common understanding goes back
at least as far as the Enlightenment and Thomas Hobbes, who proposed
that letting go of some of our individual rights to a governing
authority was fundamental to a social order, the primary purpose of
which was to restrain our baser impulses.
However important this
aspect to social interaction maybe, if we leave our understanding of
society there, we leave it dreadfully impoverished. We leave it where
the greatest glories of human society haven’t even been whispered
amongst us. Just think for a moment about our current emergency.
Much
social distancing is indeed about mutual exchange of rights and
obligations. We have accepted a restriction of our rights to go where we
wish, because of a wider obligation not to spread infection. We have
also recognised that what is in the interests of all is, in the long
run, in our own interests. Those who flout this attract very public
criticism. Nevertheless, the things that really catch our eyes, and stir
our hearts, are situations where people have gone beyond a legalistic
exchange of rights and obligations to offer compassion and service. We
see this in medical professionals, and in many examples of public
goodness. The extent to which the understanding of our political leaders
has also gone beyond the exchange of obligations I suppose time alone
will tell, but I suspect that it was acts of service beyond obligation
that motivated the Prime Minister’s words above.
The Christian
faith understands human society as much more than a mechanism to keep
the peace. It emerges from the character of God who is a divine and
eternal communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; a communion in which
each person is characterised by the nature of their relationship to each
other. This dynamic communion is reflected in human society. In a
flourishing society we grow and develop, indeed become individuals,
through our wider relationships. That wider social weave is then enabled
and sustained by our ongoing participation as individuals. We are both
created for and called into human social living.
This is a very
long way from the idea in which individuals precede society and, largely
for reasons of self-interests, trade their rights in order to create a
social order. Small wonder then that the Christian faith has
consistently given rise to expressions of its life that are corporate to
their very core.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality
with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Philippians 2:5-7a
Rights
and obligations, however valuable, do not carry us far in inspiring a
flourishing human society. As Philippians observes, in his own life,
Jesus Christ entirely subverts such economic self-interest. Christian
society and a Christian social vision involves a setting aside of such
things with him, and a willingness to become who I am and find who I am
in relationship with others. It involves an offering of myself to others
for the same flourishing in their own lives. This is also why Christian
social teaching speaks so resolutely of common goods and the Common
Good, because if we insist on seeing society as no more than a trade-off
of individual self-interest, there are wonders and flourishing from
which we shall always be exiles.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
April 21st Update
Dear Friends,
The
National Church has issued further guidance on securing and caring for
your church buildings during the coronavirus pandemic. This updated
guidance follows last week’s government announcement of a three-week
extension to the lockdown period, and is available here .
For
now, the doors of our churches must remain closed, but we continue to
have many opportunities for communal worship and companionship despite
our physical separation. Throughout this time, prayers and daily
reflections from members of the Cathedral community are being uploaded
to the Winchester Cathedral website, and a host of other resources are
available from the Diocesan website.
With the announcement of an
extension to the lockdown, and no clear end to the current restrictions
in sight, we know that for many this experience is becoming
increasingly difficult. Thank you for all that you are doing to support
those members of your communities who are struggling. Please remember to
look after your own mental health and wellbeing even while you are
helping others. Richard Harlow, Area Dean of Basingstoke, has offered a
reflection and suggested some useful resources to help all those
offering pastoral support at this time.
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
These words of Jesus as he dies on the cross (Matt 27.46) take us deep into the mystery of atonement: the perfect One tastes the consequences of sin, so that we, the guilty, may know reconciliation with God (or whatever other interpretation of this verse is offered by your theology).
They are words from a unique moment in time. Nonetheless they may be echoed by others around us in this time of stress, fear and isolation. Stress can take any of us into anxiety or depression, where a felt absence of God may be experienced.
For others, stress takes them to a heightened sense of awareness, perhaps even mania. They can feel wired, completely inseparable from God, convinced that God is speaking directly to (and perhaps through) them.
Sometimes, tragically, those who experience the symptoms of mental illness/distress can be the last to recognise that they are unwell. We spot these signs better in others than in ourselves. And isolation can make it harder for others to help us become aware that we need help. The task of carers is never easy, especially around mental health issues. Those caring for people with dementia are especially vulnerable in this time.
The Church of England has produced some basic guidance on looking after our mental health and wellbeing, available here.
But if you want more in-depth advice or individual support I found some of these websites and apps helpful during my 12 years as a mental health chaplain, all have useful resources around this epidemic:
Mind and Soul Foundation (Christian resources and reflection around mental health): https://mindandsoulfoundation.org/
MIND - the mental health charity: https://www.mind.org.uk/
The Mix - mental health support for under 25yrs: https://www.themix.org.uk/
The Mental Health Foundation: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
Alzheimer's Society: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/
NHS talking therapies (North East Hampshire): https://www.talkplus.org.uk/
(Central Hampshire): https://www.italk.org.uk/ (you can self refer)
Directory of NHS and charity helplines: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
If you want to develop some good habits during this lockdown, you could try:
Christian meditation app and website, promoted on Facebook by Archbishop Justin: https://www.soultime.com/
Take Time - guided daily Christian meditation on the Gospels: https://taketime.org.uk/
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
April 17th Update
Dear Friends,
The
latest news from the Government yesterday, confirming that the lockdown
will continue for at least another three weeks, was widely expected. It
did nonetheless bring home the reality of how these new patterns of
life and church are to continue for some time, even though so many
questions remain.
Earlier
in the week, we highlighted some of the ways in which our parishes and
people are remaining active in supporting their local communities.
Archdeacon Peter Rouch has written the following reflection, exploring
this theme further.
Find God in service of others
28 One of the scribes…asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29 Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Mark 12:28-31
One of the most obvious, and laudable outcomes of our current struggles is that many people are helping and supporting their neighbours. I am personally grateful to those offering to my mother some of the things that because of distance and isolation I am unable to provide. This is replicated many times around us. Indeed, it is clear that one of the commonest ways in which our church communities are living out their faith is in just this kind of service within their local communities.
More than this, many are volunteering in public service beyond their local communities. As a diocese we are collaborating with the civic and health authorities to ensure crucial support to those in need. Some of our lay folk recently retired from healthcare, and also clergy who entered ministry with medical training, have responded to the call to return to healthcare duties for a short while.
It is, of course, true that having been loved so much by God in Jesus Christ, we should in turn be moved to offer loving service to others. However, the relationship between love and service of God, and love and service to our neighbours runs much deeper than this cause and effect kind of thing.
As we are reminded in the parable of the sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25), our love and service of God is expressed in our service of others; indeed when we move outwards in service of others, it is also God whom we are loving and serving in others.
The famous commandment to love God and love our neighbours from Mark 12 above makes clear how deeply related are these twin aspects of the Christian life. We don’t have to become perfect disciples in prayer and study before we can properly serve. Rather, it is in turning outwards to those in need around us, in seeking to build a just and compassionate society, that we become most fully Jesus’ disciples and most fully ourselves. The love of God and love of neighbour are two sides of the same coin. Service draws us to God and deeper into prayer and understanding, and growing prayer and understanding turn us outwards in service - they go together.
In this sense we are the adherents of a faith that does not so much have a social Gospel, but which is a social Gospel. This is true both in the life of the Church, and in the way we are active members of our wider society. Let us love the Lord our God with all that we have, and love our neighbours as ourselves.
This update will return next week. Please be assured of our continued prayers for you all.
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
April 14th Update
Dear Friends,
Happy
Easter! We hope you are able to rest this week after what has been a
different but nonetheless busy Easter celebration for all of us. We have
been so inspired by the creativity shown across the Diocese to enable
as many people as possible to participate in Easter celebrations. Thank
you to everyone who made a video, held a Zoom service or found another
way to bring the Easter message to congregations in our local
community.
We
have been very encouraged to hear of work which one of our ordinands,
Marianne Foster, has done to help to coordinate the Mutual Aid group in
Winchester. The Facebook group was set up two weeks ago and already has
over 3,000 members all offering their help. It works as a community
forum for requesting and providing help to those in need. It is also a
platform for sharing information on how to access essential food,
medication, supplies, and services. They are currently working closely
with Hampshire County Council, Winchester City Council, Community First
and by Civil Parish Council who are referring people to them. Read more
about the group here – and do please keep sharing stories of what you are doing in your local communities with our media team: dioceseofwinchester@luther.co.uk.
As
we now approach nearly a month since the lockdown commenced, we know
that many people in our communities, including those in ministry, are
finding this experience a lonely and difficult one. Many people have had
to cope with the effects of the virus, and sadly growing numbers of our
community are facing bereavements as a result of this pandemic. Please
remember to take time to look after your own mental health in these
unusual times, and thank you to all of those who are taking steps to
support members of their community who may be struggling with their
mental health. Again, you may wish to share these stories.
Finally,
as some of you may already have heard, Bishop John Dennis, who had
served as an honorary assistant Bishop in our Diocese since his
retirement as Bishop of Edmundsbury and Ipswich in 1996, died peacefully
last night. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Bishop
John had retired to the parish of St Paul and St Matthew in
Winchester. Canon Peter Seal there knew him for over 20 years, and has
shared this reflection on his life:
Bishop
John was a truly remarkable man. I've known him for nearly 20 years and
worked with him really closely in this his home parish of St Paul’s and
St Matthew’s in Winchester. John was disarmingly honest and down to
earth. He had a tremendous sense of humour and a remarkably light touch.
With his beloved wife Dorothy, who died just a few weeks ago, they were
committed Franciscan Tertiaries and lived out their faith through
prayer and the care of others. Many people were attracted by John's
openness and his ability to see the good in others and be personally
affirming. Numerous folk found their way to John seeking wise counsel.
In leading worship John was relaxed, prayerful and accessible. His
sermons were always unscripted but revealed deep thought and a profound
inclusive spirituality. Dorothy used to say: "when John gets up to
preach it's not that I don't know what he's going to say, I don't think
he does either!"
John leaves two sons and their families, who along with very many other people will miss him hugely.
In
this Easter week we rejoice that John and Dorothy are reunited in the
Lord they each loved so much, and in the enduring love they had for each
other.
We will send out another update later this week. In the meantime, please be assured of our continued prayers for you all.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
April 9th Update
Dear Friends,
Tonight at 6pm, Bishop Tim
will be sharing an Easter message on ITV Meridian News. Please do tune in if
you can!
As we commence the Triduum
we wanted to remind you of the Diocesan resources which are available to help
you to mark Good Friday and Easter this weekend.
Good Friday:
The Cathedral Chapter will provide a pre-recorded service, lasting one hour, comprised of reflection, poetry, and reading. This will again feature Cathedral choral music. The theme will be ‘My Song is Love Unknown; Reflections on The Cross’ and will include veneration of the cross and prayer. These will be available, along with further resources, on the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
Holy Saturday/Easter
Vigil:
English Cathedrals will provide a vigil comprised of readings and reflections on the theme of ‘Rumours of Hope: a vigil for our times’ with Paula Gooder and others, including poets. This will be available, along with further resources, on the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
Easter Sunday:
Bishop Tim will preside and preach at a pre-recorded Sunday Eucharist from Wolvesey; Sally Dakin will briefly reflect on the Easter garden. This will be available on the Diocesan YouTube channel, along with Bishop Tim’s Easter message. The Royal School of Church Music is inviting singers from around the country to join with the Cathedral choir and others (contributing remotely) in a special Choral Evensong. These resources will available on the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
Our next update will be on
Tuesday 14 April. In the meantime have a blessed Easter.
With our prayers for you
all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
April 8th UpdateAs we approach the Easter Triduum we wanted to remind you about the virtual services which will be available for Maundy Thursday, tomorrow.
Bishop Tim will provide a video message about renewing our vocational commitments as disciples, BCMers, lay ministers and ordained ministers. This will be available on the Diocesan website and the Diocesan YouTube channel. A full Chrism and recommitment service will take place in the autumn.
Dean Catherine will preside at a pre-recorded Eucharist from the Deanery, including a sequence of foot washing, Cathedral choral music and a Vigil sequence. This will be available on the Cathedral website.
We also have a reflection from James Pitkin, Area Dean of Romsey:
In deciding what to reflect on this week, I found some helpful notes. Everyone listens to stories – stories of princesses and dragons, heroes and voyages, monsters and wise folk, dangers and homecomings. And it is through hearing those stories, each in our own language and culture, that we come to understand who we are, where we belong and what the world is like. We learn that it can be wonderful and at the same time have dangers in it. We learn about faithfulness and courage, love and forgiveness and the values our own culture knows to be important.
The stories are vital because they are memorable in a way that a list of instructions isn’t. But some stories tell a tale that does great damage. For example, some stories that nations tell themselves allow for the destruction of a group of people in their midst as somehow “not belonging”. Other stories that individuals tell about themselves can be damaging because they lead to a loss of self-worth. Stories are powerful tools for good and ill.
Jesus uses stories as he tells the good news of God’s delight in creation. Too often Christian teaching is interpreted – both within the Church and elsewhere – as holding that if something bad happens to someone or a group of people, then they must have deserved it. When something bad happens, whether on a small or large scale, a death in the family, perhaps, or terrible killings, or disease, it’s natural for some people to ask: “Did we deserve this?”
The view that is commonly, strongly and fearfully held, is that God brings misery as a means of punishing wrongdoing. Jesus is unequivocal about this – ‘No’. He tells people that they should all repent and change their lives in order to flourish.
The stories that we tell, both as individuals, as the Church, and as a community, need to be stories of patience and possibility. So to the mourner, we can say God loves the one who has died and will hold them and all those who grieve. So to anyone cast out by their community we can say God accepts you wholeheartedly and we will stand with you and affirm you. To our country, we can say that God delights in justice and mercy and longs for this country to grow in wisdom. We need to tell stories that bring God’s shalom and not human mistrustfulness and despair to this world we share.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
7th April Update
Dear Friends,
We
are sure that, like us, you are keeping the Prime Minister and his
family in your prayers. It is encouraging news that he is in a stable
condition and we pray that with God’s grace he will make a full
recovery. You may find the national Church’s prayer for all those
affected by COVID-19 helpful:
Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy.
Sustain and support the anxious,
be with those who care for the sick,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may find comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
You
may have seen a misleading piece in today’s Telegraph about churches in
London, which the London College of Bishops has responded to here . As they have reiterated, our churches must remain closed, in order to help keep us safe, and to protect the NHS.
Finally, Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester, has shared a reflection for today:
There
is more than a semantic irony in that we are all seeking to make
greater efforts than ever to stay in touch with one another at a time
when social distancing means the one thing we cannot do is touch. Social
distancing is essentially physical distancing and, particularly when
this is from loved ones, we bodily feel this forced physical withdrawal.
When times are more acute, when anxiety is raised, our natural human
instinct is to touch, to hold, to embrace as a means to reassure the
other that they are not alone, that they are held in more than our
thoughts, that they are loved. So what can we make of this?
The
first response is perhaps simply to name this pain, this loss; to
acknowledge that as human beings we feel this withdrawal and even the
ache of not being able to provide such usually effortless, gentle acts
of care and humanity. We have been stripped of something essential.
But
this is Passiontide, when God draws us most closely to himself through
Jesus’ experience of being stripped of all essential to him – “My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” And our belief is in the God of
Easter as well as Good Friday who is with us and present in and through
all things, a belief wrought both out of Christ’s suffering in these
days and of being raised to new life, with us forever.
So
whilst our physical touch has been stripped back, the opportunity to
deepen our trust and faith, to ensure we are not out of touch with God,
lies in our hands in these holy days. Hands we need to stretch out in
prayer to bring God’s solace to the sad, strength to the weak, healing
to the sick and peace to the dying.
As
we strive to be in touch, as we ‘phone those we love, call those in our
care, and as we hear of and see those who are dying alone or isolated
in intensive care, we commend them into the hands of God trusting that
each is held by God and praying that each may know they are never alone.
Michael
Mayne wrote ‘God loves matter. He created it: it is his language. To
divide the holy from the common is a totally false distinction once you
understand that everything is a sign of the presence of the God’
…who caresses the daily and nightly earth.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
Monday 6th April Update
Dear Friends,
We have been so cheered by the devotion and creativity that you have all shown this weekend to ensure that your communities could mark Palm Sunday from home. Like many of you, Bishop Tim and Sally broadcast a service yesterday so that people could join in worship from their homes. The fact that so many people are taking part in worship through these weekly services is encouraging, and they will continue to be made available on the Diocesan YouTube channel.
The limitations that we all know to be necessary at this time can be frustrating but, as the Queen noted in her address yesterday, it also presents us with an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer. As Holy Week continues, we wanted to remind you of the prayer resources and opportunities for shared worship that are being made available by the Diocese, the Cathedral and the national Church.
Please find our schedule for Holy Week below. You will be able to find each day’s services and reflections on the Diocesan website, as well as on the Cathedral website, and further creative suggestions for Holy Week and Easter this year are available on the Church of England website.
The national Church has also issued updated guidance on caring for your church buildings at this time, and this is available on their website within the Guidance for Churches.
Throughout the week:
Winchester Cathedral will provide Common Worship Evening Prayer each day, at 5.30pm, via Zoom. Instructions for how to join are available on the Cathedral website.
Every day there will be a reflection from one of our Bishops, Dean Catherine or members of the Cathedral Chapter which will follow the Holy Week story, using John’s Gospel as a basis. All of the resources for Holy Week are available on dedicated sections of the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
Canon Mark Collinson has kindly provided a reflection for Holy Monday, and this is available on the Diocesan website and on the Cathedral website.
Maundy Thursday:
Bishop Tim will provide a video message about renewing our vocational commitments as disciples, BCMers, lay ministers and ordained ministers. This will be available on the Diocesan website and the Diocesan YouTube channel. A full Chrism and recommitment service will take place in the autumn.
Dean Catherine will preside at a pre-recorded Eucharist from the Deanery, including a sequence of foot washing, Cathedral choral music and a Vigil sequence. This will be available on the Cathedral website.
Good Friday:
The Cathedral Chapter will provide a pre-recorded service, lasting one hour, comprised of reflection, poetry, and reading. This will again feature Cathedral choral music. The theme will be ‘My Song is Love Unknown; Reflections on The Cross’ and will include veneration of the cross and prayer. These will be available, along with further resources, on the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil:
English Cathedrals will provide a vigil comprised of readings and reflections on the theme of ‘Rumours of Hope: a vigil for our times’ with Paula Gooder and others, including poets. This will be available, along with further resources, on the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
Easter Sunday:
Bishop Tim will preside at a pre-recorded Sunday Eucharist from Wolvesey, with Sally Dakin preaching. This will be available on the Diocesan YouTube channel. The Royal School of Church Music is inviting singers from around the country to join with the Cathedral choir and others (contributing remotely) in a special Choral Evensong. These resources will available on the Diocesan website and the Cathedral website.
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With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
Sunday 5th April, Palm Sunday update
Dear Friends,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest!
Thank you to everyone who is marking this Palm Sunday by holding virtual services for your communities.
In addition, or for those without access to their own virtual services, Bishop Tim and his wife Sally have once again recorded a communion service, which can be viewed on our Diocesan YouTube channel this morning. Please do share the link so that we can still join together as one Diocese in prayer even though we cannot see each other in person.
Finally, Peter Rouch has shared a reflection today on the solace of self-isolation. This is included at the end of today’s update.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s ChaplainSaturday 4th April
Dear Friends,
As Holy Week commences tomorrow, we wanted to let you know about the resources and opportunities for shared worship which, as a Bishop’s Staff Team, we will be providing through the week. We know that many of you will also be offering ways to journey spiritually through the week to your communities and want to thank you for your creativity in marking this most important of weeks.
Please find our schedule for the week below. You will be able to find each day’s services and reflections on the Diocesan website .
Throughout the week:
Winchester Cathedral will provide Common Worship Morning and Evening Prayer each day, at 8.30am and 5.30pm respectively, via Zoom.
Every day there will be a reflection from one of our Bishops, Dean Catherine or members of the Cathedral Chapter which will follow the Holy Week story, using John’s Gospel as a basis.
Palm Sunday:
Bishop Tim will preside at a pre-recorded Sunday Eucharist from Wolvesey, with Sally Dakin preaching. This will be available on the Diocesan YouTube channel .
Winchester Cathedral will provide a reading of the Passion, featuring multiple voices from English cathedrals organised by the Precentors.
Maundy Thursday:
Bishop Tim will provide a video message about renewing our vocational commitment as disciples, BCMers, lay ministers and ordained ministers. This will be available on the Diocesan YouTube channel . A full Chrism and recommitment service will take place in the autumn.
Dean Catherine will preside at a pre-recorded Eucharist from the Deanery, including a sequence of foot washing, Cathedral choral music and a Vigil sequence.
Good Friday:
The Cathedral Chapter will provide a pre-recorded service, lasting one hour, comprised of reflection, poetry and reading. This will again feature Cathedral choral music. The theme will be ‘My Song is Love Unknown; Reflections on The Cross’ and will include veneration of the cross and prayer.
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil:
English Cathedrals will provide a vigil comprised of readings and reflections on the theme of ‘Rumours of Hope: a vigil for our times’ with Paula Gooder and others, including poets.
Easter Sunday:
Bishop Tim will preside at a pre-recorded Sunday Eucharist from Wolvesey, with Sally Dakin preaching. This will be available on the Diocesan YouTube channel .
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
Friday April 3rd
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Thursday April 2nd
Dear Friends,
For today’s update, Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester, has shared a reflection about the importance of self care as we approach Holy Week:
One recent request I received was to fill in a questionnaire about clergy morale in the current crisis. Having spoken and listened to far more clergy than usual over the past few weeks I felt in a reasonable position to respond, and my basic response was that clergy morale was high, in fact, really very high.
It has been immensely encouraging and often inspiring to hear of the creativity, ingenuity and sheer dedication with which clergy have adapted to a rapidly changing situation and adopted often unfamiliar ways and means of continuing their ministry.
However, I wonder what the real effect of this adaption and adoption is? One person I spoke to said how ‘energised’ they felt by the new skills they were learning and by the community networks they were establishing; in the next phone call the person had been doing similar things but this time I heard a confession of exhaustion. Clearly different personalities are responding in different ways; another person in one breath said how as an introvert they certainly weren’t missing the tyranny of meetings but in the next added that they were finding the constant phone calls draining.
Talking with colleagues we are finding that as clergy step up and respond with great faithfulness to our calling in these days, the suspension of so many of the familiar patterns is leading for some to suspending some of the usual time off and down time we all need.
Whether energised or exhausted by the new, the different, the opportunities and challenges, there remains a calling to self-care. For many that will be alongside a duty of care to family as well. We need to re-fill our spiritual wells, to rest awhile with God and to actually just do something else.
So we hope you have a good Holy Week, deeply walking the way of Christ and serving those you have been called to serve in whatever ways you can. We trust also that you ensure a post-Easter break of some kind. There are diocesan and national resources for Sundays and weekdays, you do not have to provide it all; make some space, take some time, be restored for the times ahead.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
Wednesday April 1st
Dear Friends,
For today’s update Bishop Debbie has shared a reflection on the audacity of hope, to link to the day of hope which has been marked on social media throughout the Diocese. Please find this below.
With our prayers for you all,
Bishop Tim, Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
And the Bishop’s Staff Team:
Andrew Robinson, Diocesan Chief Executive
Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth
Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester
Mat Phipps, Bishop’s Chaplain
Audacity of Hope
A few years ago, Barack Obama wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope, a title that was inspired by a sermon given by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who spoke about the audacity to hope as a gift for all Christians. As we follow Jesus, we have the ability to see things from God’s perspective and imagine a different and eternal future.
In recent days, I have been thinking about God’s people in exile which we read about in the Old Testament. Taken from their land, they find themselves in Babylon, where they ask deep theological questions:
Where is God?
Why has he let this happen?
How can we worship in a strange place where there is no temple?
And in this dark place, the prophets speak of a different future - a future where God restores his people and brings them home. The present is not ignored and there are no sugar-coated solutions, but the people’s eyes are lifted upward to a time when God’s kingdom will rule overall. Jesus continues that reimagining process as he speaks of new ways of understanding the Kingdom.
Maybe you feel in exile today, maybe you are questioning how to stay close to God – that’s OK. But in this strange time, we can hold on to the promises that are foundational to our faith – God’s Kingdom reigns, his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Through the power of the Spirit and in the love of Jesus, we can draw close to God, whose kingdom reigns forever
