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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General Synod Debate : Climate Change

Combatting Climate Change: the Paris Summit and the Mission of the Church I am very grateful for this debate, for the work done by the Environmental Working Group and the lead given by Her Majesty’s Government that we heard about earlier.…

A Heart of Steel

Rotherham has a new heart and it’s made of steel.  The 2m high sculpture was unveiled in the gardens outside the Minster on Saturday morning.  The photos look great and I look forward to seeing it for myself over the next week or so. The…

Courage in Ministry

The Bishop's charge to those about to be ordained deacon and priest 3rd July, 2015 Every year those to be ordained deacon and priest in the Diocese share in a retreat together immediately before the ordinations.  As part of the retreat,…

A letter from Pope Francis

I received a letter last week from Pope Francis.  So did you.  The letter is addressed to the whole of humankind, not only Roman Catholics and not simply Christians.  Francis writes “I wish to address every living person on the planet”…

Developing Disciples in the City

Liverpool Cathedral hosts an Urban Lecture each year for clergy working in inner city or outer estate areas.  I was the guest lecturer in June and chose to speak on developing disciples in the city.  The lecture incorporates some recent reading…

A Christian Festival for Sheffield

I spent 3 days last week in Stuttgart in Germany as a guest of the something called the Kirchentag. It's a great gathering of Protestant Christians from all across Germany.  There were 30,000 active participants and over 100,000 visitors to…

Grave Talk

Some of the hardest conversations we will ever have are about death.  How do you begin even to raise the subject with those you love?  How do you talk about your deepest hopes and fears, your dreams for your life, your pain and anxiety, your…
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Advising Mr Cameron: lessons from an ancient kingdom

The Prime Minister will not be short of advice as he appoints the Cabinet and prepares the Queen’s Speech.  There is a particular bible story about accepting and weighing advice that I would suggest it might be helpful for him to read and…

The Top Ten Proverbs for Twitter and Facebook

People in Britain spend more time online than they do sleeping: 8 hours 41 minutes a day according to an Ofcom survey in 2014.  That’s twice as much time as the average person spends watching television.  The same “average” person…