On being announced as the next Bishop of Winchester, Bishop Philip was delighted to meet various representatives from around our diverse diocesan community, including pupils at a city centre school and port chaplaincy. He then travelled into the north of the diocese to spend some time with the rural community in the Benefice of Bright Waters which brings together parishes around Whitchurch.
The vicar, Revd David Roche, and members of the benefice showed such generous hospitality, which included the bells being rung at St Peter’s Church in St Mary Bourne as a sign of welcome, and then a delicious lunch inside the beautiful church with clergy, lay ministers, church wardens and members of the congregation.
After lunch, Bishop Philip was welcomed at St. James Church which is on the Woodcott Farms estate where he met farm workers and the estate gardener who presented the Bishop with a sapling grown from cutting from an 800-year-old yew tree which grows in the churchyard.
Finally Bishop Philip had the pleasure of joining a time of prayer and singing at a care home for older people in Whitchurch. Many of the residents there are living with dementia and struggle to communicate, so it was wonderful to see how enthusiastically many sang along to the hymns, even a cappella when the sound system failed! Bishop Philip was very pleased to lead them in the Lord’s Prayer and give a blessing.
To visit the Bright Waters Benefice was to see rural ministry at its very best. It was to meet a loving warm community (and to be greeted by the sound of bells!). It was to see the Church so embedded in the life of the village: church and pub were right next door to each other. It was to see people who stepping out in service, as an LLM, or a deacon, and in so many other ways. It was to witness the church sharing love and care with the very elderly. It was to see how integral church is to rural life and the farming year. So much to celebrate and rejoice in!
Bishop Philip
It was a busy day for the Bishop Designate who also found time to meet the members of the Bishops’ Staff Team and attend a service of Evensong at Winchester Cathedral where special prayers were said for his ministry in the diocese, and where he was also able to meet members of the clergy and laity from around the diocese at a drinks reception afterwards.
It was a wonderful occasion which was an encouragement to many, including Bishop Philip who told Radio Solent’s Sunday morning programme: “I met people on Thursday who were hopeful and jofyul and really looking forward to the future. I am very very much looking forward to coming and joining with you all.”
The busy time continued as Bishop Philip then travelled immediately to York for the Church of England’s General Synod – there he joined Bishop Debbie and was introduced to our Synod representatives.
