Steven Croft

St Luke’s Day 2016

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A message for all those leading groups for enquirers and new Christians

I write this message on St Luke’s day to everyone in the Diocese of Oxford and beyond who is involved in planning or leading groups for enquirers and new Christians this autumn.  Thank you.  This is a wonderful ministry we share together.  Through this ministry, wherever it happens, lives are changed and a continual stream of new Christians come into the life of the Church helping us to grow and be more effective in serving our communities.

I write as well to everyone across the Diocese and beyond who wondering whether or not to become involved in this ministry.  I want to encourage you to do so.

One of the themes at the core of Luke’s writing is, without a doubt, teaching the faith to enquirers, forming disciples in preparation for baptism.  The name for this discipline in Christian theology is catechesis.

Luke begins his gospel by setting out his purpose.  It is written so that we may know the truth concerning the things about which we have been instructed.  The word is, literally, catechised (1.4).

Luke ends the gospel by painting a picture of Jesus as catechist on the road to Emmaus, drawing the first disciples into an understanding of Christ through walking and listening and asking questions, through teaching from the scriptures, through the breaking of bread and through sending out in mission (24).

St Luke’s day is therefore a very good day to invite you to reflect on your own habit and practice of catechesis: the way in which you welcome and teach the faith to enquirers, form new Christians and prepare them for baptism.

Many people who read this will be involved in Alpha courses, others in Christianity Explored, others in using Pilgrim.  Still others might be using Start or Emmaus or material you have developed yourself.  Different material works well in different places.  What matters is that we offer something in every place, every year.

I have a particular interest in the development of Pilgrim.  We celebrated the third birthday of the material last week.  130,000 books have been sold.  It is being used in homes and churches, in prisons and pubs, with existing Christians and with enquirers.  There have been 25,000 views and 6,000 downloads of the free video materials in the last year.  Pilgrim is now being used in Denmark, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and in the USA (through the Church Publishing Inc version).

We have developed a Pilgrim catechism in digital and print form which will be published by Easter 2017 and Youth Pilgrim is in development.

The materials we use can be a real help.  But more important is the way we use them.

A long time ago a bishop in North Africa, Augustine, wrote a short book on Instructing Beginners in the Faith.  I’ve been reading it again recently.  Augustine does pay careful attention to what we should teach.  But he pays even more attention to the way in which we set about the task.  The most distinctive and important thing, he says, is that our teaching is marked by joy.

“Our greatest concern is about how to make it possible for those who offer instruction in faith to do so with joy.  For they more they succeed in this, the more successful they will be….

For if God loves a cheerful giver in matters of material wealth, how much more is this true in matters of spiritual wealth” (2,4)

Joy is also a theme in Luke’s writings: the gospel begins with singing and ends with resurrection joy.

Pay attention this St Luke’s tide to your teaching and instruction with faith.  Plan in faith and look forward to a harvest.  And above everything else, offer all of your teaching with joy.

+Steven Oxford

For more information on Pilgrim go to www.pilgrimcourse.org

Augustine of Hippo, Instructing beginners in the faith, New City Press, 2006

Based on a sermon to chaplains in the University of Oxford on St Luke’s day.

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Steven Croft

What’s your favourite film, Bishop?

I did a couple of television interviews on the morning of my inauguration service on 30th September.  At the end of the second interview, Emma from ITV asked me a question which should have been very simple: “What’s your favourite film?”

My mind went completely blank.  There was an awkward silence.  Then I remembered Ann’s favourite film (Notting Hill).  I’ve watched it so many times, I couldn’t in all honesty claim it was my own.  In the moment I couldn’t think of any films I liked enough.

But the question stayed with me through the day of the service.  Thanks to all who came and all who worked so hard to make it happen.

The question stayed with me through the weekend.  Finally, late on Sunday afternoon, after all the family had gone home, I had an answer to the question.  At least, I’ve narrowed it down to two films.

The first is Jerry Maguire, directed by Cameron Crowe, released in 1996 and starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellwegger.  It’s a great romantic comedy and a good sports drama.  I love it for the opening scene where Jerry Maguire, a sports agent, writes a long memo to his colleagues about the corruption in his industry.  Everyone agrees with him then a few days later he is fired.  The story is about his journey back and it celebrates integrity, truth love and putting people first.

My second is Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, released in 2009 and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, then President of South Africa and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South Africa rugy union team.  The film tells the story of the 1995 Rugby World Cup hosted and won by South Africa.

invictus_posterI remember watching the match live on television.  I love the film because of Nelson Mandela’s inspirational leadership, his perseverance in adversity and his ability to see good triumph over evil.  The film’s title is taken from a short, powerful  Victorian poem by the Englilsh Poet, William Ernest Henley, which helped Mandela in the darkest times on Robben Island.

“It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the soul

I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”.

There is a moment in the film when Mandela invites Pienaar to tea.  He speaks of the need for inspiration to take us beyond ourselves.

“In order to build our nation, we must all exceed our own expectations”.

The film is a summons to greatness in the face of immense challenges.  We live in one of those moments in the story of the world where the challenges are great beyond our reckoning.  The challenges of poverty, of climate change, of conflict are immense.  We are called by God in our generation to rise to those challenges, to be the best we can be in confronting them.

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Steven Croft

An immense privilege…’

We moved house a week ago and I write this in the midst of builders and packing cases.  It’s been a good move and we are glad to be here.  I’m looking forward to the inauguration of my ministry on September 30 and to the four Welcome Eucharists in each Area of the Diocese.

I’ve been learning all I can about the Diocese and the communities we serve but there is no substitute for getting out and about.  That will begin in October and November with visits to clergy in the Oxford Area, regular services in parish churches and a programme of visits to deaneries across the whole Diocese.

A great deal of thought and prayer is invested in the appointment of a new Bishop.  Those appointing take care to listen to the needs of the Diocese at this moment in its long story.  When the appointment is made, the Archbishop sets out the priorities for the new Bishop’s ministry in the words of a charge, drawing on this long and deep process of listening.

This is part of Archbishop Justin’s charge to me, read at my confirmation of election:

You are to bring vision and life, creativity and energy to the Diocese’s mission and ministry enabling all, lay and ordained to realise the joy of the Gospel and the workings of the Holy Spirit through the Church, and you are to lead the Diocese and its people in navigating their response to their call to Christian witness.

You are to release the God given possibilities in people, teams, finances and organisation unlocking the potential for re-imagining ministry and mission.

You are to be an intelligent and articulate voice for the Gospel and Church reaching out locally, nationally and internationally.

You are to seize the opportunity to act as interpreter, prophet, advocate and convenor across the Diocese nationally and in the public square.

You are to enable the Diocese to live its diversity well and as a sign of a flourishing Church.

Our nation and the communities we serve face many challenges and questions.  We are called as the Church in this Diocese to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with love and hope and joy.  We are called to be a blessing and a channel of God’s grace in every place where we live and work and serve. It is an immense privilege to be called to serve the Diocese of Oxford at this time.  Please pray for me as this new chapter and new ministry begins.

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Steven Croft

Summer Joy

I hope you had a very good summer.

Mine was full of good things. My youngest daughter Sarah became engaged.  Her fiancée, Simon, proposed at sunset in Florence.  I was able to spend two weeks with my grandson (mainly playing with trains and reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar).  I was inspired by the British Olympic team. We said our fond goodbyes to Sheffield.  I started to build a pattern of prayer for the Diocese of Oxford.  I was able to read and think and plan in the midst of sorting out and preparing for the move.  I took up running for the first time and learned how to make pies.

soul-survivor2

It wasn’t all sunshine and light, of course.  I was deeply grieved by the suffering of close friends.  I was moved to tears by some of the things I heard during the General Synod shared conversations in York.  It was hard, as it always is, to take in the suffering in Aleppo, in central Italy and in other parts of the world.  There were the normal frustrations and things which went wrong and the hard work of transition.
The very best moment of the summer (apart from Sarah’s engagement) came as I stood near the front of a very big tent in Somerset.  Our younger son, Andy, and our daughter in law Beth work for Soul Survivor, a large Christian youth ministry.  Soul Survivor runs festivals for young people and students every year.  This summer we were on site for two of the festivals looking after Josiah, our grandson.

Beth had a night off and so we shared in the first evening meeting of Week B.  Simply to be in a large tent with over 8,000 teenagers sharing in worship is inspiring.  They were all there as part of small youth groups and church parties, camping all across the Bath and Wells showground.  After the worship and the talk and lots of laughter, Mike Pilavachi gave an invitation on this first night of the festival for people to come forward to pray and be prayed for if they wanted to become Christians.  This kind of invitation to make a Christian commitment or to receive prayer ministry happens regularly during each of the festivals.

Scores of young people came forward (I think around 140 that night).  As is the tradition at Soul Survivor, the rest of the tent cheered and clapped and celebrated this very public act of commitment and dedication of their lives to Christ.  As I always do, I found the moment profoundly moving: holy ground.  There we were, in a very big tent in Somerset, and young people’s lives were being reshaped by God’s grace.

The same thing will have been happening in many different places over the summer in different Church traditions and in many different ways: at Walsingham and Keswick and Taize and New Wine, on ventures and in holiday clubs and pilgrimages, or simply in quiet retreat and holiday: God meets us as we step aside and draws us more deeply into love and joy and hope.  As the Church proclaims the good news of love and forgiveness and new beginnings, so men and women, children and young people, respond in faith.

Perhaps if you had been there (or even as you read this) you are wondering what these acts of commitment meant to these young people.  I was wondering too.  But my wondering is shaped by the fact that in recent years I have regularly baptized and confirmed young people who responded in this way at Soul Survivor or at other festivals. As I have talked with them it has been very clear: those moments of grace have been a key part of their journey to mature Christian discipleship and in the offering of their whole lives to God.  Such a moment was part of my own journey when I was 15 years old.

26,000 young people came to Soul Survivor festivals this summer.  Over 1,500 became Christians.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories about the importance of that which is lost: a shepherd loses a sheep, a woman loses a coin, a father loses both of his sons (in different ways).  In each story, what is lost is found.  The common element in each story is joy.

“Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which is lost”, says the shepherd.

“Rejoice with me for I have found the coin which I had lost” says the woman.

“But we had to celebrate and rejoice”, says the father, “Because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found”.

I hope that in your life, and in your summer, and in your church, there has been this kind of joy this summer.

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Steven Croft

Letter to the clergy and people of the Diocese of Oxford

To the clergy and people of the Diocese of Oxford

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Thank you for your various messages of welcome and for your prayers following the announcement of my nomination as the Bishop of Oxford. It’s an enormous honour and privilege to be appointed to this role and I look forward very much to serving the communities of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in the coming years.

My Confirmation of Election as Bishop of Oxford was held on 6 July, and I have now paid homage to Her Majesty the Queen and resumed my place in the House of Lords.  I will continue to meet with the senior team in Oxford and plan for the autumn.

Ann and I hope to move to the new See House in Kidlington at the end of August and I will be working to a normal diary in the diocese from early September.  My inauguration is set for Friday 30 September in the Cathedral.

There will then be four Welcome Eucharists at which I will preside and preach, one for each Archdeaconry:

 

Episcopal Area

 

Date

 

Day

 

Time

 

Venue

Reading

5 October

Wednesday

19.45

Reading Minster

Dorchester

9 October

Sunday

15.30

Dorchester Abbey

Oxford

12 October

Wednesday

19.30

Church of the Holy Family Blackbird Leys

Buckingham

13 October

Thursday

18.00

All Saints High Wycombe

I would like to meet as many people as possible over the first few weeks in post so please put one of these dates in your diary and I look forward to seeing you there.

I hope to visit the parish clergy of the Oxford Area in October and November. I am also planning a series of Deanery Days from November to July to begin to get to know and to listen to the whole Diocese.  During those visits I look forward to engaging with lay people and clergy and getting to know the wider community as well as the church.  I also look forward to being out and about across the whole Diocese Sunday by Sunday.

You can discover something about me in advance from the Diocesan website, should you wish to do so.  I was formed as a parish priest in Halifax.  I was shaped as a thinker and writer in Durham and through travelling the country as Archbishops’ Missioner.  I have been forged as a Bishop in Sheffield and South Yorkshire, seeking to recall the Church here and elsewhere to the mission of God.

I’m conscious I will have a much to learn in my early years in Oxford.  Please pray for me: for the gifts of humility, wisdom and gentleness for this new ministry.  Pray in the words of the ordinal that my heart may daily be enlarged to love this great Diocese to which God has now called me.

I’m looking forward very much to working with Bishop Colin, Bishop Andrew and Bishop Alan in the coming years and with the rest of the senior team.  I’m conscious that the Diocese owes a particular debt to Bishop Colin for his care and leadership during the long vacancy.

Based on the listening I have done so far, I will focus my ministry across the whole Diocese in three areas in the early years: on engagement with children, young people and young adults; on enabling lay discipleship in the world and on engaging with the poorest communities across the Diocese. These priorities are not a new Diocesan strategy.  That may emerge over time.  They are initial themes for my own engagement with the whole Diocese and I look forward to taking them forward with you.

I believe that the Christian faith and the Christian church will become ever more central in the life of our nation and the world in the 21stCentury as people seek again for meaning, for values, for purpose and for hope.

God has called the Church to be a community of mercy and kindness, reflecting the nature of Jesus Christ and telling the good news of his love. Together we are called to be a community of missionary disciples: faithful, united, hopeful, creative and rejoicing in God’s grace.

I look forward very much to meeting you, to knowing you and being known and to working with you,

In Christ

+Steven Oxford

PS: I would be very grateful if this letter could reach as many people as possible and be reproduced in parish newssheets, on websites and in magazines. Thank you.

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Steven Croft

The Referendum Result: a Reflection

“God is our refuge and strength
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we should not fear, though the earth should change
Though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea”

Psalm 46 has a special resonance today…  The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union.  This will be good news for some people but a genuine disappointment to others.  The coming years will be marked by uncertainty and change.  What does it mean and how should we respond?

A clear outcome

The outcome of the Referendum is clear.  52% of the electorate has voted to leave, 48% to remain.  Every English region outside London had a majority to leave.

The vote in the city of Sheffield was close but still 51% in favour.  The vote across the rest of the Diocese of Sheffield was even clearer (Doncaster 69% leave; Rotherham 67%; Barnsley 68%; East Riding 60%).

It is a more mixed picture in the Diocese of Oxford (where I become the bishop in a few weeks time).  Some local authority areas have clearly voted to remain, others to leave but the balance in the region is still for leaving.

How should we interpret the result?

I watched the television coverage up until 1.30 am and again from 5.30. The politicians were interpreting the outcome in different ways: as a protest against particular parties or politicians, as a comment on the state of the NHS or immigration.

I’m cautious about all of these interpretations. I may be wrong but I believe that such a large number of people voted Leave for two reasons.  First they genuinely want Britain to leave the European Union and to assert the right to self determination.  52% of the population in effect set the right to self governance above short and medium term economic prosperity.

Second 52% of the population voted for fundamental change in our country going forward even if that change brings some instability.  Those left behind by current economic policies and politics clearly believe they have most to gain from new beginnings. That should tell us something very important.

The ongoing debate

Three vital questions came into focus during the long campaign.  The result did not resolve them.  We need more reflection and public debate on each.

The first is global migration.  We heard again and again that “immigration” was an issue.  But for the most part, the campaign was framed in the language the 1970’s and 1980’s.  The issue for 2016 is not simply immigration but global migration.  We are living through and will live through the greatest migration of people in human history.  This movement of peoples is likely to increase through the effects of climate change, population growth, global inequality and armed conflict.  We need a comprehensive, deep conversation about how Britain and the world will respond.

The second is identity.  What does it mean to be British in 2016? We need leaders of vision able to articulate an inspiring vision for Britain and its future.  That positive vision did not emerge in the campaign from either side.

The third is a new kind of politics.  The murder of Jo Cox MP was an immense tragedy.  The response of politicians on all sides helped us see again how many good, honest people represent us in Parliament.  We need a style of public discourse which is more honest, more humble, more gentle and more kind.  This will take more than self-discipline on the part of those in public life.  We need some new symbolism.  Over the next ten years, the House of Parliament are to be refurbished.  Will we have the courage, I wonder, to reshape the chamber of the House of Commons to be less adversarial, less binary, more collaborative, seeking wisdom from every part of the community?

How should the Church respond?

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued a statement this morning calling for humility and courage.  They say “Unity, hope and gentleness will enable us to overcome the period of transition that will now happen and emerge confident and successful”.

http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5743/eu-referendum-statement-by-archbishops-of-canterbury-and-york

The Church will respond with prayer for our government and Parliament and for all sections of our society.  We will respond by entering into hopeful dialogue with people on all sides of the debate with courtesy and kindness.  We will respond by cherishing the poor and the vulnerable and renewing our efforts to build a safe, just and peaceful world.  We will continue to welcome the stranger and show mercy to the needy here and around the world.  We will continue to build bridges and bonds of friendship across Europe and across the whole world.

In the words of Psalm 46, we will not be afraid though our world may be shaken.  We will take time today to pray, to think, to love and to speak gently in God’s name.

+Steven

 

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Steven Croft

The darkest valley: a reflection on this week in Parliament

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me”

These words from Psalm 23 have been in my mind this week following the atrocities in Orlando and the terrible murder of Jo Cox yesterday.

I’ve been in Parliament for my final week of duty there as the Bishop of Sheffield.  It’s been a sombre week.  The House of Lords kept a minute’s silence on Monday afternoon before prayers for the victims of the Orlando shootings.  On Monday evening I walked through Soho on the way to meet my son.  I was moved by the powerful display of solidarity by the LGBTI community there and across the world.

On Tuesday morning I attended the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminster Hall with around 750 guests including 150 members of both Houses of Parliament.  Again we kept silence and prayed for the victims of Orlando.  The address by Bishop Angelaos of the Coptic Church was on the suffering of Christians throughout the Middle East.

On Wednesday I took part in a debate in the House of Lords on the European Union’s response to the global migration crisis and particularly, the role of Operation Sophia, the mission to disrupt people smuggling from North Africa to the coast of Italy.  There were powerful and compassionate speeches but, of course, no easy answers.

So it had already been a week of difficult news by Thursday when I heard first that Jo Cox MP had been attacked in Birstall and then, when I arrived home, that she had died from her injuries.  There has been a public outpouring of  prayers and vigils for Jo and for her family and friends.

The tributes  have been very moving and Jo will clearly be greatly missed. We do not yet know or understand the reason for the murder.  It is hardest to bear for her family of course, but hard as well for all Members of Parliament on every side of the House of Commons.  As has been said, the ordinary work of MP’s in meeting their constituents every week is seldom newsworthy but it is the very core of our democracy and a vital part of British life.  I join with those who have called for appreciation and thanks to be extended to those who represent us.

This has been a week for reflection on a series of tragedies.  In each of these, and all the others, I draw comfort from the words of Psalm 23:

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me”.

God is with us even in the depths and the darkest places and God is with those who suffer, in part through all of us extending our love and care and support to those who are hurting most.

We remember God’s love and we pray for those who mourn, for the injured, for the persecuted, for those in danger on land and sea.

But we must also be stirred by these events to engage afresh with the great challenges of our age: to work towards a world which is safe, secure and just for all peoples irrespective of sexual orientation or faith or ethnicity or the place in the world where you are born.

I am struck again at the end of this week by one of the prayers from the funeral service. In the face of such suffering it is vital for all of us to live our lives with purpose and with meaning:

Grant us Lord, the wisdom and the grace to use aright the time that is left to us here on earth.  Lead us to repent of our sins, the evil we have done and the good we have not done; and strengthen us to follow the steps of your Son in the way that leads to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Steven Croft

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, anxiety, and conduct disorders.  The problems are often linked to what is happening in their lives.

Last month I attended the annual Civic Breakfast organized by Church Action on Poverty in Sheffield.
bunsThis is an annual event which brings together Church leaders and faith leaders across the city with local councillors, heads of services, MPs and charities.

The subject this year was the connection between mental health and poverty.  Common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety are distributed according to a gradient of economic disadvantage across society.  The less well off you are, the more likely you are to suffer from a range of common mental health problems.

We had a moving presentation at the breakfast from a woman in her twenties who described the mental health problems she experienced as a teenager, the care she received and the real difference it made.  In the discussion which followed, several people contributed stories from their own families.  We had expert opinion from people who work as advocates for those with mental health issues and from General Practitioners.

The most striking statistic was this (from a mental health commissioner):

“Mental illness accounts for 25% of mortality and morbidity in Britain but only 11% of the NHS budget is spent on these issues”.

We are not tackling this part of the problem.  During the last parliament, funding for mental health services were cut by 8.25%.

It’s impossible to read the four gospels and not be aware of Jesus’ compassion for those who are suffering and his care for the whole person.  In the first chapters of Mark, Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit, a multitude in Galilee, someone declared unclean by his society, a man who is paralysed and full of guilt, another multitude by the lakeshore and a man with a withered hand.  Read on further and you will find that Christ ministers to children and young people and the elderly with both physical and spiritual diseases.  The gospels do not have our vocabulary for mental illness but it is impossible to read them and not find evidence of these conditions and of Jesus’ care for those who have them.

What can we do?

Christians and Christian congregations can help by raising awareness of mental health issues, especially among the young.  We can help by listening to one another: the first line of support and help.  We can help by reducing any stigma around mental health so that people feel able to talk about the problems they may be facing, whether that is anxiety or depression or another serious illness.  When was the last time you heard a sermon or a presentation in church on these issues?

We can help by taking seriously our responsibility to care for the young and invest in children and young people.  It is encouraging to see the number of workers employed in our Centenary Project increasing month by month.  If you are part of a church in this Diocese, has your church explored this project yet?

We can help by working to relieve poverty and suffering, both in acts of kindness and charity and in our campaigning for justice.  Part of that campaigning will be working to ensure that mental health support increases rather than decreases year by year in line with other spending on health.

We can help by offering our time and gifts through the Samaritans, to Mind, in local visiting and support for those in need.

The Civic Breakfast helped open my eyes and ears again to the fragility of many young people and the need for care and support.  As followers of Jesus Christ, let’s take care to be informed and compassionate and involved.

+Steven

Further help/supportmental-health

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Steven Croft

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 to elect the Police and Crime Commissioner.  These elections really matter.  Last time we voted in local elections less than 6 in 10 people turned out.  Last time South Yorkshire elected Police and Crime Commissioners, only 15% of people bothered to vote.

On 23rd June the whole of Britain will vote in a European Referendum.  Whatever your views, this is a hugely significant question.  It will affect the future direction of our country, our unity, our place in the world and our economy.  We all know that opinion polls sometimes get things wrong. The polls are predicting a low turnout on 23rd June on perhaps the most important national question we are facing in many years.   The polls are also predicting that the outcome will be close.  Your vote and mine will make a difference but only if we use it.

faithleaders2016On Wednesday morning I did what I do every year at this time.  I gathered on the steps of the Town Hall in Sheffield with faith leaders from across the city for a photocall and so that we can make a statement together to encourage everyone we can simply to use their vote: young and old, rich and poor.  No-one has to travel far.  It doesn’t take long.  You can take your family and friends with you and encourage them to vote as well.  Democracy gives to all of us the power to shape our society in the people we elect and in helping us to decide the great questions of our age.

It seems a small thing to go to a polling station, take a ballot paper, place a cross in one box or another and put the voting slip into the box.  Yet for many generations before us very few people were able to vote at all.  To vote you had to be male and wealthy: one of a fortunate minority.  Many people the world over do not live in a democracy and have no say or influence over their own government. We do – yet many of us will not use those votes in the next few weeks.

Having a vote means discovering the arguments: digging below the rhetoric, coming to your own point of view.  The Church of England has set up a web page to help you explore the issue.

Christians should set the pace and take the lead in all of our engagement with politics and many do.  Long ago the prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylon.  You can read the whole letter in Jeremiah 29 but here is the key verse:

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare”.  (Jeremiah 29.7).

In a democracy to seek the welfare of the city means to be involved, to be informed, to discuss and ask questions and above all to use the votes we have been given.  Reserve the dates now.

+Steven

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Steven Croft

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.  I am looking forward to the new challenge and responsibility this move will bring.  At the same time I am very sorry to be leaving a Diocese and friends and a place I love dearly and where Ann and I feel very much at home.

For both Ann and myself, our seven years in the city and Diocese of Sheffield have been among the happiest and most fulfilling of our lives.  I have enjoyed and appreciated almost every part of being Bishop here: the warm welcome across South Yorkshire (and the parts of East Yorkshire around Goole), the joy of working with an outstanding senior team, with dedicated and creative clergy and lay leaders and the privilege of joining in what God is doing in so many different ways and places.  I have appreciated all kinds of engagement with the city and wider region served by the Diocese: with local politicians, with its economic life, with the universities, the third sector and many different local communities.

Ann has greatly enjoyed fellowship and friendship through Partners Together and the Mothers’ Union and, most of all, seeing the Parent and Toddler group grow at the Cathedral over the past five years.  We have both made many friends here.

You may know that the Diocese of Oxford has been vacant since October 2014. At that time, it felt too early to consider leave Sheffield after six years. However, for various reasons the vacancy was not filled and I was invited in January this year to allow my name to be considered.

My call to this new ministry began with a sense of obedience to the wider needs of the Church and has grown from there, through the process, into a strong sense that God is indeed calling Ann and I to Oxford and calling me to a different kind of episcopal ministry.

For the first time in January, I began to realise it was no longer too early to leave Sheffield.  The Diocese has grown in confidence, in unity, and in capacity for mission, particularly over the last year.  We have a common vision, a strategy to carry that vision forward and a strong and united senior team.  The more I pondered the question, the more this seemed a potentially good moment to hand on the ministry God has entrusted to me here to others and in time to a new Bishop.

The Diocese of Oxford is one of the largest and most complex in the Church of England.  It covers the three counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and stretches from Milton Keynes in the north to Newbury in the south; from the Cotswolds in the west to Slough in the east. The Diocese has a population of 2.3 million people.  There are over 800 churches, almost 400 stipendiary clergy and over 200 self-supporting clergy grouped into four archdeaconries and 29 deaneries. The Diocese has an Area system with three Area bishops supporting and working with the Bishop of Oxford.  There are 12 secondary and 270 primary Church schools.  There are six universities. A large number of charities, industries and other agencies have their national or international headquarters in the Diocese.

The invitation to move came at a time when I was beginning to reflect on what shape my own ministry might take over the coming years.  As you know, I had been planning a sabbatical later in 2016 to do some of this thinking.  I have a growing sense of call to a more outward facing ministry over the next ten years or so and a desire to engage more directly in mission and evangelism and with the wider life of the nation.  I could certainly have changed gear in that way and remained in Sheffield, but Oxford, with all its resources also provides an excellent place for such a ministry.

Finally, although the move will take us further from some of our family in Halifax, it will bring us much nearer to our four children and to our grandson.  Paul, Andy and Beth and Sarah are all settled in Greater London.  Amy and Simon are in Bristol and Ann’s mother is also there.  Ann and I first met and married in Oxford and we lived there for five years immediately before we came to Sheffield.  From the perspective of our past and our future, the move makes sense.

For the next few months at least it will be business as usual.  I am not quite sure of the timings yet but it looks as though we will move to Oxford over the summer.  A farewell service has been provisionally booked in Sheffield Cathedral for Sunday 17 July at 4.00 pm.  In the meantime I am looking forward to the regular programme of parish visits, the Deanery confirmations and continuing to plan for the launch of St Peter’s College.

After I leave, Bishop Peter will lead the senior team and the diocese during the vacancy as we continue to grow a sustainable network of Christ like, lively and diverse Christian communities in every place.  I will leave the Diocese in excellent hands.  The process of discovering who God may be calling to the immense privilege of being the next Bishop of Sheffield is likely to begin in the autumn.

In the meantime, we continue to value your prayers.  You know me well enough to know that I enjoy change but also find it very daunting.  We will continue to pray for you now and for many years into the future.  I have every confidence that the whole Diocese will continue to grow in faith and hope and love in the years to come.

With thanks for all that we have received through you and in you and for the grace of God in this Diocese.

With kind regards

+ Steven

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