The soon-to-be Bishop of Basingstoke, Kelly Betteridge, spent all day on Thursday 28th August travelling round the north of the diocese meeting people from different communities. Following the official Downing Street announcement at 10am, Kelly shared breakfast with representatives from the Bishop’s Staff Team and then headed to Burghclere community café at the Church of the Ascension.
The community café has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and meets every Thursday come rain or shine, attracting between 50 to 80 people each week from nearby villages for teas and coffees and fellowship. A special cake had been made with the words “Welcome Bishop Kelly” and she was asked to cut it.
Churchwarden Philip Oldham said, “It’s really important for us here in Burghclere and in our benefice to be able to welcome the bishop to meet with the church congregation and also the wider community. The cafe is an opportunity to welcome the local community in, to check up on how people are doing and to enjoy a fantastic fellowship in the space of the church. We’re really excited to have the bishop with us today and very honoured that it’s her first stop on her tour.”
Meeting Local Young People
Next she and Bishop Philip visited ‘Operation Back to School’ at St John’s Hartley Wintney which gives away new and pre-loved uniforms for children aged 4 to 12 years old at a drop-in.
They then joined the Summer holiday club with the theme ‘Mission Possible’, meeting around 70 local children, 70 per cent of which are not from church backgrounds. The bishops joined in the singing of ‘My Lighthouse’, chatted to the young people, and Kelly told the youngsters how she wanted to be ‘a light for Jesus’. When she was asked what two things she would take on a mission for Jesus, Kelly said ‘my bible and chocolate!’
+Philip and Kelly were also presented with special beaded glasses with the words ‘Mission Possible Bishop Philip’ and ‘Mission Possible Bishop to be!’
Rev’d Angie Smith, the vicar of St John’s, said, “It has been a real joy to welcome Kelly this morning on this special announcement day, and that lots of children got to see her too. I think as she was a children and families worker in the past so hopefully it’s been a really nice thing for her to do.“
“It’s always lovely to have a shepherd to look after the flock, which is how I see our bishops, and for us as churches to have someone who we know is praying for us and looking after us, someone to go to when we need help, someone to encourage us and to give us some guidance and wisdom, so all of that is really good and I’m really pleased that she’s coming – it’s great!”
Visiting Basingstoke Town Centre
The bishops then visited the newly refurbished St Michael’s Church (part of Basingstoke Church) in the middle of Basingstoke, spending time chatting to the leadership team, before accompanying the town centre chaplains on a tour of the shops and bus station, hearing about their work.
Charles Applegate, Churchwarden of St Michael’s, said, “We’ve had lots of work done here to modernise the church, I think it now blends the old and the new, but we’re really wanting to be able to use the space in a variety of ways to bring people into the church and to get to know Jesus. Hopefully the bishop will be part of that moving forward, supporting the work that we do here, advising us, enabling us, because it’s really clear that God is at work in Basingstoke, and we wish for that to continue.”
John Hayward, Chair of Basingstoke Town Chaplaincy, said: “She’s a delightful person to meet, she’s got some ideas and is interested in the town, it’ll be great to work with her. I think it’s vital that Christians are seen to be out in the community, to engage with people where they are, and we can help to improve the community spirit in the place – that’s I think what Christians are called to do.”
As the 7th Bishop of Basingstoke, Kelly will have responsibility for parishes, chaplaincies and schools across the seven deaneries of Basingstoke, Alton, Alresford, Andover, Odiham, Winchester and Whitchurch.
For more details see: PRESS RELEASE: New Bishop of Basingstoke Announced by Downing Street – Diocese of Winchester
