The King and Queen were in the congregation for the Bishop of Norwich’s first sermon of the year, at Sandringham church. Bishop Graham presided at Holy Communion and preached about the Epiphany.
Prayers for a new vicar were part of the service the Bishop led at All Saints church in Thornham, in the Hunstanton and Saxon Shore benefice. Bishop Graham preached and presided at communion, and prayed with the congregation that God would send them a new vicar. The recruitment process is underway.
As well as visiting his flock around Norfolk and Waveney, five of the woollier members came to Norwich to meet Bishop Graham.
Sheep joined the bishop in his garden to co-star in a video about the Bishop of Norwich’s Lent Appeal.
The 2025 Lent Appeal will raise money for the YANA (You Are Not Alone) telephone helpline. Norfolk-based charity YANA provides mental health support for people living and working in agricultural and rural communities, aiming to prevent loss of life through suicide.
Despite thunder and hail the sheep performed baaa-eutifully as the bishop outlined the vital work of YANA.
Bishop Graham joined church leaders from different denominations, including the Roman Catholic Bishop of East Anglia, as part of the Norfolk and Waveney Churches Together church leaders’ pilgrimage to Rome. They worshipped together, met the Pope and strengthened ecumenical links.
In addition to work around the diocese, Bishop Graham is the Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment. He endorsed the cross-party Climate and Nature Bill, which is due to be debated this summer, and worked with Operation Noah to support farmers trying to tackle the climate crisis.
As part of his duties as a member of the House of Lords, he led the opening prayers for the first time in January. Prayers are said at the beginning of each sitting as peers stand, facing the wall behind them – believed to be because, centuries ago, they could not kneel while wearing swords.
Bishop Graham also asked two formal questions in the Lords in January, which received written answers.
He asked for assurances that, with Church of England safeguarding policies rightly being scrutinised, police would act on information they receive which, it is alleged, was not the case when the crimes of John Smyth were reported to them in 2013. He was told the Home Secretary had committed to ensuring it would be mandatory for reports of child abuse to be referred to the police, and it would be a major failure if any force failed to investigate.
He also asked about medical aid for Gaza, before the ceasefire.
He explained he had visited the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, with the Bishop of Jerusalem, just three days before the Hamas attack on Israel. The hospital had since been shelled five times. With desperately needed medical supplies not allowed across the border he asked whether the government could help. It replied that it was ‘making the strongest possible representations’ to ensure humanitarian and medical aid could get to those who needed it, with both the foreign secretary and prime minister raising the issue with the Israeli government.
To keep up with Bishop Graham’s work around his diocese follow him on Bluesky @bishopnorwich.bsky.social
