The text of the letter was:
“I am writing to let you know about a small addition to our liturgy in baptism and confirmation services which I hope will be helpful.
“In every service of baptism, confirmation and the renewal of baptismal promises there is a Commission where the whole congregation promise to live out our everyday faith.
“The Commission is a well used and familiar part our liturgy. However it contains nothing about our care for the environment and the 5th Mark of Mission.
“The Bishops in the diocese have agreed to authorise (under Canon B5) a new final question in this commissioning:
Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth?
With the help of God I will.
“We want to warmly commend this question for use in parishes where the Commission is used and, of course, to encourage teaching and preparation on this theme as part of preparation for baptism and confirmation.
“I have the support of the Chair of the Liturgical Commission in promoting this change, which has already been introduced in the Diocese of Oxford, and, in my role as Lead Bishop for the Environment, I have written to other bishops to commend it (and the giving of tree saplings at Confirmation*) more widely across the Church.
“This is a small step but one of many that we need to take as we engage with the challenge of care for the environment and the path to net zero.”
Commission
Those who are baptised are called to worship and serve God.
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you persevere in resisting evil,
and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all people, loving your neighbour as yourself?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you acknowledge Christ’s authority over human society,
by prayer for the world and its leaders,
by defending the weak, and by seeking peace and justice?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth?
With the help of God I will
May Christ dwell in your heart(s) through faith, that you may be rooted and grounded in love and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit.
*Hazel tree saplings confirmation gifts
Every confirmation candidate confirmed in the Diocese of Norwich by one of our bishops receives a hazel tree sapling to plant. This is as a symbol that being a disciple of Jesus means that our faith grows over time and part of living Jesus’ life is to be stewards of creation. Also, because Mother Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth century mystic, held a hazel nut in the palm of her hand and three truths were revealed to her about all that God has made: “The first is that God made it; The second is that God loves it; The third is that God looks after it”, the bishops speak about this to the confirmation candidates.
