Jerusalem
and the Middle East
Church Association

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After telling the Synod of his travels in the Gulf States and both sides of Cyprus, he said:

“The point of reciting this travelogue is partly to proclaim and savour the diversity of the diocese. I hope it also inspires us to Christian solidarity in that diversity: solidarity of prayer and intercession for one another, and solidarity of pride that we are a diocese with such range and such potential ambition to witness to Christ. Also, I was able to begin to meet people and appreciate situations in that wider society: Rulers and politicians, for instance, and those in business and diplomacy. Such contact, preferably flourishing into relationship, is one part of the witness I’ve just commended. But bishops, however frequently, pass through. Those living and working locally have a real chance to flesh out our conviction that God so loved the world by first knowing and meeting it.

The bishop then out-lined some of the ‘Big Issues’ people face in the diocese:

“In Cyprus and the Gulf, let alone in our Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, we’re not short of Big Issues.

First, if ever a grasp of and a willingness to work at both world and regional politics were called for, it’s here, and not just for the bishop. I’m not talking about naively imagining to solve hard and desperate situations, but I am talking about responsibly knowing, critically listening, and fervently praying - about Iraq, about Palestine, about Iran, about the role of the USA and the West, including Britain; and about this still divided island; and about tragedies and sorrows of nations and peoples, castes, classes, and ethnic groups less known or less attended by the international media; and about the economics and the sociology that both feed into and flow from the politics.

Second, the opportunity presented in a very large part of our diocese by the proximity of significant numbers of Christians to their Muslim-majority neighbours is just that: an opportunity, and not just for the bishop. It requires serious joint reflection and thought to work on how to respond to it, with the minimum of naivety but the maximum of imagination.

Third, the great Eastern stream of Orthodox Christianity is virtually nowhere closer to our part of the Western stream than here, in both parts of our diocese, and yet sometimes it seems as though a gulf in understanding exists, abetted by uncertainty as to how we might converse and share with one another. That gulf seems only sporadically bridgeable. This, and many other slightly-acknowledged but mostly-missed ecumenical opportunities with Christian Churches both ancient and new in the huge region we serve, is a challenge and surely a spur, and I hope not only to the bishop.”

The bishop also looked to the future:

“I think I genuinely work best collaboratively, and in the coming months and years I want to do that with colleagues and more widely, to test and check any ideas I find myself formulating. So instead let me pose just a few first questions at this stage, to myself and to you.

Are we able to be confident in our diversity as a diocese and above all to enjoy what we do and who we are, as one Body? I sense yes, and that our unusual mix - of everything, really - makes many of us rather proud. Well, not only do we need to communicate that to one another in an unforced way; the rest of Anglicanism, which now sometimes gives the appearance of having abandoned enjoying being a crazy but probably holy mixture, needs to hear it too.

After giving thanks to all who had smoothed his way in his first month, he concluded:

“And mutual thanks to one another for, as I sense it, being a fine version of that crazy but probably holy mix that I earlier talked about: a mix of strong personalities, strong theologies, strong opinions, charitably and fruitfully interacting. As I have gone around, I’ve been delighted to discover that people tease one another about their varied perspectives and preferences, without in any sense abandoning their convictions. Long may it continue! I only wish some other dioceses and some other gatherings gave out the prospect of any such fun.”

The full text of this heavily edited version of the Synod Address is available from the editor.

Information on the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf