The Bishop of Lincoln’s address to Diocesan Synod in June 2025

Introduction

In the past eighteen months, you will all have heard me speak about the importance of Raising the Spiritual Temperature. What do I mean, and what does this mean for us as a Diocese? 

One or two of you have even asked me to write it down very clearly!

I am happy to say that I have drafted two short papers, with a third on the way, which I hope will offer you a personal reflection on our life in Christ – the kind of life I hope we can inhabit together, building on the foundations we have laid through Time to Change Together.

Raising the Spiritual Temperature is about our identity in Christ. In the first of my papers, I use the words of St Paul which we have just reflected upon in our Dwelling in the Word – ‘for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3.28). I rejoice in the rich and diverse tapestry which makes up the Body of Christ, and I ask you what a life of worship, discipleship and service looks like which expresses our joy at being part of that Body.

How do we speak about our own relationship with God? What does the outpouring of God’s love look like in our life? What challenges and failures in our past do we need to confront and lament, before we can journey on with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts? What do we have to say as people of faith to an anxious and turbulent world? Or to borrow from the Psalms – how might we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

All these questions and more, I hope that we can ponder, reflect and discern together, as we move from Time to Change Together, into Time to Grow Together.

Bishops and Archdeacons

This summer, we say thank you and farewell to Bishop David, who is retiring in July, and to Archdeacon Justine, who is moving on to a new role in theological education. I want to express my profound thanks to them both for all that they have shared with us as a diocesan family, and all they have shared with me as colleagues and friends.

I am pleased to say that following our application to the Dioceses Commission, about which you recently voted, we have been granted formal permission to appoint a new Bishop of Grimsby. The Commission found the proposal ‘compelling’ and appreciated the geographical size and the diversity of our diocese. I will now be appointing an Advisory Group to assist me in the process of making this important appointment.

I am also seeking to restructure from three to two Archdeaconries, to establish a cohesive pattern of leadership for the northern and southern regions of our diocese, with Bishops and Archdeacons working collaboratively with lay and ordained colleagues to lead, support and enable our common life. As part of the process for a Bishop’s Pastoral Order, I have already consulted with BCDT and will be consulting further with our Partnership Deans and Lay Co Leads, with our Rural Deans and Lay Chairs, as representatives of our parishes and partnerships.

When Archdeacon Justine moves to her new role, we will naturally be operating like this in shadow form, and I am grateful to Archdeacons Aly and Gavin for taking on this pattern of ministry.

Deanery consultation

We recently held a wide consultation about our deaneries, in the context of our developing Local Mission Partnerships and Deanery Partnerships. I invited you to share your thoughts on the creation of larger deaneries in line with those partnerships.

Thank you for taking part in this consultation. It is clear that many deaneries are ready to work together more closely. I also recognise that some deaneries would prefer to continue with existing structures, while building on their partnerships without formal change. 

There has been a strong principle throughout Time to Change Together that ‘local knows local best’ – a phrase coined by Bishop David. 

Following this principle, I have decided to respect the decisions which have been discerned and made by individual deaneries. Those who wish to come together, and those who wish to stay as they are currently organised, will both be enabled and encouraged to do so.

Living in Love and Faith

Later today, we will be exploring as a Synod a further aspect of how we inhabit the life of Christ together. Each diocesan synod has been invited to take part in a conversation about Living in Love and Faith. A conversation – not a debate – and I am grateful to Bishop Nicholas and to Canon Martyn Taylor for leading and facilitating this for us.

You may know that the lead bishop for LLF, Bishop Martyn Snow, recently stepped down from this position. It is my intention that our conversation today should not be stymied by any change in leadership on LLF. This is a genuine opportunity for us to listen and reflect together. 

The feedback from us and other dioceses from these conversations will be hugely valuable to the College and House of Bishops, meeting in September and October respectively, to help us to understand and seek the highest degree of communion, which is own my personal commitment. 

I will be listening very deeply to this process today.

National and international concerns

Inhabiting the life of Christ is also about inhabiting the world in which we live: we are citizens of both heaven and earth. As my thoughts now turn to the world stage, I am struck by the increasing anxiety, turmoil and absence of peace and security, as well as a kind of possessive individualism. 

I am deeply concerned about recent legislative changes which move towards the possibility of full-term abortions and assisted dying. I note that the latter bill passed in the House of Commons with only a small majority. This will come to the House of Lords, and we will be taking the next steps very seriously.

Mindful of the changing relationship between the US and the rest of the world, and the complexities of President Trump’s economic policies, I am grateful that a deal has been struck between our two countries, particularly with regard to tariffs on steel exports, which will have a real and positive impact on our sisters and brothers in Scunthorpe. I was glad to be able to speak in the House of Lords on the importance of the British steel industry and its value to us here in Greater Lincolnshire. On Thursdsay this week, I met with Sir Nic Dakin, the MP for Scunthorpe, and he has invited me to accompany him on a visit to the Scunthorpe Steelworks very soon.

Looking towards the ongoing conflict in Gaza, I recognise that Israel has the right to defend itself, not least from those who wish to see its existence ended. Yet I am appalled at the violence and suffering on both sides of that conflict: the persistent shelling of the Anglican hospital in Gaza (the only functioning hospital remaining), the terrible behaviour of Hamas in not releasing hostages, the refusal to return the bodies of the deceased to their loved ones, and the conscious decision to starve people and deny them medical assistance. None of this can be tolerated.

I pray too for a de-escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel which further destabilises the Middle East and will have potentially dangerous consequences for other places where there is already war and suffering, particularly Ukraine.

I hope that as a nation we will be able to use our soft power, not least the wise use of our international development budget, to seek real and lasting peace in our world.

I hope that as the Church, we will hear and respond to the call of Christ, who is the Prince of Peace, and as we seek to inhabit the life he gives us, that through our worship, discipleship and acts of service, we will see a world transformed by his Love.

Let us pray:

God our Father,
your Son is our peace
and his cross the sign of reconciliation:
help us, who share broken bread,
to bring together what is scattered
and to bind up what is wounded,
that Christ may bring in the everlasting kingdom of his peace;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Amen.

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