Bishop's Visitation Charge 2007
Introduction
Mission has been described as ‘finding out what God is doing and joining in’, and the purpose of an Episcopal Visitation is for the bishop to discover for himself what is happening in the diocese – finding out what God is doing – so as to equip us better to join with God in planning for the future in what we all recognise to be challenging times. This is for me a discernment process and your responses have helped me in that task.
I want to begin by thanking those who have taken part in this Visitation process and who kindly completed the Articles of Enquiry. I have read the responses with interest and they will be shared with other diocesan officers especially where they raise particular matters with which we can help. I also want to thank the Archdeacons, Area Deans and our Child Protection officer who have assisted in the Visitation process. As you will know, I did away with some of the things that have been done during Visitations in the past, such as inspecting Letters of Orders, but I have given greater attention to those areas where bad practice can lead to litigation or insurance problems such as checking inventories and ensuring that your lightening conductor (if you have one) has been tested. Child protection policies are of course, of particular concern, as is good practice in ministry towards vulnerable adults.
I also want to take this opportunity of thanking parishes for their generosity in supporting my Lent Appeal. It has raised over £20,000 and I am hoping that parishes that have not as yet sent a cheque will soon do so. That amount of money will make a terrific difference to the lives of those living on informal settlements and especially the children who are malnourished and often ill.