As Christians we have a compelling vision of the world as a different place, where peace and justice reigns, where creation is redeemed and restored, where God is sovereign and where interdependence is the mark of the community we seek to create and serve. The challenge for us as a church is how we deliver that vision?
During May there wereseven Archdeacons Visitations across the Diocese, one in each deanery. Here is the Visitation Charge given by the Venerable Christine Froude Archdeacon of Malmesbury and Acting Archdeacon of Bristol.
Over the last 50 years, God has had a particularly rough time in Britain. In the secular uprising we have experienced, as Christians, we can feel undermined and ridiculed for our beliefs, both personally and in the media.
Yet these beliefs have been the cornerstone of Europe since the first century. Indeed it is hard to think of an aspect of our common life that has not been shaped and defined by our Christian heritage.
In the multi-cultural, multi-faith and multi-political environment in which we live today, many have tried to relegate Christianity to the private sphere - just think about the prohibition on wearing a Christian cross in some workplaces, or the ban on offering to pray for a colleague in need.
And all this whilst other religious beliefs, and un-beliefs are being given increasing prominence.
What then, as Christians, is our mission in a world of competing ideologies, of technological and scientific progress, and of global environmental crises.
As Churchwardens, what is your role?
How can you work with your clergy and lay ministers to best engage with the world in which you live and in the communities in which you worship and serve?
A short while ago, the House of Bishops issued a pastoral letter which was an attempt to help church members, you and me, in the light of the General Election, to engage with the political process and to seek to exercise our vote responsibly.
The letter made reference to the lack of a compelling vision for our society. It went on to ask how can we build the kind of society which many people say they want, but which is not being expressed by the society in which we live?
As Christians we have a compelling vision of the world as a different place, where peace and justice reigns, where creation is redeemed and restored, where God is sovereign and where interdependence is the mark of the community we seek to create and serve. The challenge for us as a church is how we deliver that vision?
We increasingly find ourselves unable to engage with the world in which we live, and have to pedal very hard just to stand still. Our Diocesan statistics over the past 10 years illustrate the challenge clearly.
Nationally, numbers attending church are going down and not up. There is a huge gap in our congregations of those between 10 and 40 years of age.
Whilst we have an Archbishop prepared to speak out against injustice in society, increasingly the local church is seen as a cosy club for those who like that sort of thing.
Heres what our Archbishop had to say recently
There is the old saying:Always do what you always did - always get what you always got.
We have to change, to do new things if we are not just to cling on to survival but to see our vision of the church becoming a reality.
The Diocesan Strategy for 2016-18 is something you will be hearing a lot about in the coming months.
It is an attempt to refocus our energy and our resources in a way that will enable the breath of God to breathe afresh into the life of the local church that we love so much and seek to serve.
Aspects of this strategy may make us feel uncomfortable: change - even change for the good, is never easy. But carrying on as we are is truthfully not an option.
If scripture teaches us anything, it is that true discipleship means that there are things we must be willing to leave behind us, both individually and as a church.
There is a cost to change. We are called to be willing to follow where God leads.
For to those whom we encounter - neighbours, colleagues, friends and family - we are the message.
Are we good news? I wonder. Do our lives speak of the grace and love of God? Do we model, as individuals and as a church, what it means to live a life of holiness, of trust in God, what it means to live a life of service that puts the needs of others first.
We must be true to the saying that the church is not a cosy club but the only club that exists for those who are not members.
If the local church is truly to be the hope of the world, the answer begins with us.
It is for us to hold onto a big picture that seeks to see whats not happening today in and through our churches, and to work together to channel our resources in a more effective way which will lead us to be the kind of church that really is a signpost of the Kingdom of God.
Helen Keller once famously said,"Alone we can do little.Together we can achieve much."
Our proposed strategy seeks to address the reality of the challenges we face and to help us as individuals, as churches and as a Diocese to overcome them.
It will encourage us to seek ways in which we can work together with neighbouring parishes and denominations, pooling our resources and skills to more effectively reach our communities with the good news of Jesus Christ.
This video conversation with three of our Churchwardens from across the Diocese is a reminder of some of the good things that are already happening in our parishes both large and small that we need to build on.
I want to finish with some words Bishop Mike spoke at the last Diocesan Synod about the compelling vision we have as Christians. This is what he said:
My starting point is this. Christians have a big idea clothed in the language of the Kingdom of God. It is not simply about this parish or benefice; even about this diocese or that one: but a vision of the whole of creation redeemed and restored.
"It is a vision that is at once expansive and beautiful, but also counter cultural and often in terms of personal and social ethics, both counter intuitive and deeply challenging.
"From this big idea, there flows a compelling vision of the world as a different place, where peace and justice will reign, where the Sovereign rule of God is manifest.
"God forgive us when we take the wine of this Kingdom and turn it back into water.