Bishop Sean, Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, has asked UK Anglicans to correct what he says are false impressions in the reporting of the current war in the Middle East. Six of the countries in which the Diocese works have been attacked during the past six months but there is little awareness amongst the UK faithful that there are many Christians in those countries, that many of those Christians are Anglicans, and that the Anglican Church is continuing its work there.
He made his plea to the annual UK gathering of the Friends of the Diocese held at its London base, All Hallows by the Tower, this week. Some fifty friends from all parts of the UK were present to receive a report from the bishop about the situation in the Diocese and to share in a Eucharist at which Bishop Sean preached. The Chair of the Friends, Rev’d Canon Chris Butt, was able to report an increase in the membership of the Friends, which now stands at over a hundred, and whose annual meeting attracts a substantial congregation. There had also been considerable numbers at the annual meetings in York and Exeter.
Canon Chris paid tribute to Canon Georgia Katsantonis who is retiring after over forty years of service to the Diocese, and who is known personally to many of the Friends; and drew attention to the indefatigable effort of the bishop in being present, personally to support the work of the churches in the war affected areas.
In his sermon, based on the set readings for the day, the bishop did not flinch from an exegesis of Jeremiah’s prophetic act involving dirty underwear, (almost certainly the first time the congregation had heard of the passage in Jeremiah 13). He referred to a contrast between two churches, one Anglican and one non-denominational, that he had attended during a family visit to the US from which he and Jenny had just returned. He had felt completely at one with the Anglican church’s determination to maintain a via media, a middle way; and completely alienated from the other church with its very evident national symbols and artefacts, and complete absence of Christian ones. He said that such occasions reinforced his sense of belonging to the Anglican ‘tribe.’ Further reflection on Matthew 13 led him to persuade the congregation of the creative potential of the leaven in the loaf, and reference to Psalm 82 allowed a firm commitment to the lowly, the weak and distressed.
It was in this context that he urged the congregation to tell the story of the Diocese, in these times, as it pursues its ministry effectively, in a theatre of war.
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