The Household of Cornelius and the Conversion of Peter

Bishop Steven delivers his sermon at the clergy conference 2025diocese of oxford

The Household of Cornelius and the Conversion of Peter In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort as it was called. So begins the third in this sequence of stories of conversion. Again the Holy Spirit is at work beyond and outside the Christian community. Again the Holy Spirit […]

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Young minds matter

When was the last time you thought about mental health and young people? There is a major issue.  As many as 1 in 10 children and young people (aged 5-16) have a clinically diagnosable mental health problem.  The problems include depression,…

Let’s make sure we use our vote….

I hope you have appointments in your diary on Thursday 5th May and Thursday 23rd June.  There are opportunities to vote on both days and it’s vital to use them. On 5th May, people across South Yorkshire will vote in local elections and…

A Letter from Bishop Steven

Dear Friends, I write with some significant news and with a mix of emotions to the clergy and lay people of the Diocese of Sheffield. Downing Street has announced this morning that I have been nominated as the next Bishop of Oxford. …
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Gentleness

Easter Day sermon from the Bishop of Sheffield. Acts 10.34-43 and John 20.1-18 One of the great figures of the Quaker movement, Isaac Pennington, wrote these words in a letter to his friends in 1667.  He is trying to describe what it…
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The Vision Keepers

A sermon at the Chrism Eucharist Yesterday I was in St Peter’s Tankersley, one of the oldest churches in the Diocese. My reason for being there was to dedicate new building works.  There is a new heating system, a new kitchen and space…

Thank you!

I spent an hour or so yesterday signing around 200 certificates to be sent to churches across the Diocese of Sheffield to say thank you for the contributions to Common Fund, our shared Diocesan budget.  This is something I do every year. …

The Seven Acts of Mercy

The Seven acts of Mercy Presidential Address to the Diocesan Synod 27th February, 2016 “Blessed are the merciful” Matthew 5.7 Long ago, the church in England loved the number seven.  In 1281, the Archbishop of Canterbury called…

Breathe Deep 2016

Over three hundred young people aged 11-18 gathered together on a cold Saturday in January for our third annual Breathe Deep day. They came to St Thomas Philadelphia, with their leaders, from all across the Diocese.  Together we were exploring…
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Commissioning Service for Mothers’ Union President 2016

This morning I commissioned the new President of the Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Sheffield, Pauline Reynolds (on my left in this photo with the rest of her team). This is the sermon I preached at the service. I focussed on the second…