A year in Norfolk and Waveney.
I was ordained Bishop in Westminster Abbey on 29th September 2023 and welcomed as Bishop of Thetford the following day.
Inevitably the year has flown by as I’ve busied myself around the patch and tried to bring the message of hope in Christ that sustains us as a Church.
Before I started, I said I wanted to listen and I wanted to be missional and I hope in all that has happened people can see that I’ve tried!
I look back on a number of highlights. Blessing lifeboats at Gorleston (though I wish the boat was operational – maybe I didn’t pray hard enough?), baptising in the sea, an amazing angel festival at Yarmouth Minster, Rogation at Ashby, blessing the new roof at Kessingland, the Norfolk Show, the food banks and food pantries and poverty cafes I’ve attended. I could go on and on.
The best thing has been brilliant co-workers who have been endlessly patient with me. Bishops Graham and Jane are fabulous colleagues, Graham my PA is a rock, the team at Diocesan House are enormously helpful. I’ve missed Archdeacon Steven’s wisdom and knowledge as he recovered from Leukaemia – he’s a wonderful resource for the Archdeaconry of Norfolk and I’m so pleased to have him back.
We have a heroic group of clergy and laity who love their Churches and congregations, who are missional and loving to their communities who perform daily miracles to maintain and grow the Church of God. I’m humbled and thankful almost every day as I hear another story of God at work.
The truth is, the Diocese of Norwich has surprised me. I hadn’t realised the issues we have with poverty. No one thinks of Norfolk and Waveney as deprived and yet 40% of our population live in parishes that are in the 25% most deprived in the country. Rural poverty and coastal poverty are often hidden in different ways and yet the way so many are forced to rely on food banks and community cafés and after school clubs is frankly a disgrace in this day and age. But I give thanks for the service and generosity of the faithful who are responding to needs where they arise. There is real life here and our Churches are proudly at the heart of every community.
I’ve been surprised and delighted by the life I find in Churches. There’s a real hunger to go deeper into God. To be able to talk to confirmation candidates and those seeking to offer themselves to the Church to be ordained or licensed or commissioned has been such a joy. We need so many more if we are going to have that big impact and make a difference but I love those who come forward – they have been an inspiration to me.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. I find the fact that the Church is having difficult conversations about human sexuality draining. The national conversation is depressingly partisan and I don’t mind admitting wishing that we could live more easily with different opinions but continue to love and respect each other.
On a personal level we’ve had highs and lows. Joy at my grandson’s arrival and my son’s priesting in Nottingham and challenge over Sue’s hip replacement and my Mum’s stroke. All families go through such things – we’re no different.
But there is a deep sense that we have come home. Indeed, Sue and I were having a moment of reflection as we drove back into the county after a holiday in Scotland and agreed, we love this place and we don’t want to be anywhere else.
Thank you to everyone who has made my transition to the Diocese of Norwich so easy. As I look ahead to the year to come and what I hope will be many more years ahead, the Prayerful, Pastoral, Prophetic vision of the Diocese grows in me. Transformation is happening and I have the privilege of seeing it with my own eyes – we’re working with God in amazing ways, so take the promise of 2 Thessalonians 5:24 and trust in Him, ‘The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’
+Ian
To see more photos of Bishop Ian’s year in the Diocese of Norwich, follow him on Instagram. ian.bishop.1232 or on Facebook, Ian Bishop.
