AGM Address - Bishop of Horsham

Isaiah 52. 7-10, Mark 5: 35-43 
How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation.

Well after his conference address in Liverpool, I expect that there are some hailing Ed Milliband in that kind of a way – someone proclaiming better days to come – some good news and offering hope under a different reign.

Well, without wishing to denigrate anything said by the leader of the Labour party, the scriptural verse is not about him – but it is about the proclamation of new hope under a new dispensation. Just as a politician seeking election, promises a new way forward under a new rule, so in this passage of Isaiah, a new age is being foretold – a new reign. It is, however, not a simple political change – a new government, a change of administration. It is the reign of God. What Isaiah foretells is the rule of God’s kingdom……a kingdom where there are none of the injustices and pains we know all too well, but where the is hope and healing and justice and harmony.

The Gospel reading we heard a few moments ago tells of Jesus seeming raising from the dead a young girl. The rule of God breaks into the painful broken world we humans know all-too-well, with Jesus raising the little girl to life again. We get a glimpse of the Kingdom of God that Isaiah foretells. We get a glimpse of a world where the pain of losing a young child to a fatal illness is overcome; we get a glimpse of a kingdom where wrong is set right, where pain is healed, where harmony is restored.

You who share in the work of the FSW know all too well, the pains and difficulties people experience in their everyday lives. You know about the kinds of disadvantage and difficulty people suffer and about the seeming unfairness that some people seem to have to endure. I think that you will know too how much more challenging life has become for some of the people who have had assistance withdrawn or reduced because of the financial constraints imposed by government cuts. I do not want to use a celebration of the work of the FSW to talk about the rights and wrongs of the way money is being saved – but many people in all kinds of difficulty are anxious for some ‘good news’.

And you, my friends, despite the difficulties under which you labour, despite the financial constraints under which the FSW is having to work, you are Good News. You are the hands the feet, the eyes and ears of Christ in the communities in which you are working. The help and encouragement that the FSW is able to bring to people is nothing less than a continuation of the care that Jesus was expressing in his raising of the little girl in St Mark’s Gospel; it is a continuation of his ministry and an extension of it for we are the body of Christ; by one Spirit, we were all baptised into one body.

Earlier this week at the Cathedral, many people celebrated 200 years of the work of the National Society. It was the National Society that began the work of offering free education to the nation – some decades before it hit the government agenda. The idea of offering free universal education in England and Wales came from the Church of England and Christian mission. Today, church schools are castigated for their approach to education and for their admissions policies and even criticised for indoctrination and trying to promote the values of one religion above others. Our society has been pleased to receive the benefits of Christian mission but now wants to cast aside the vision that brought those benefits.

Welfare benefits and a caring state have generally, if not universally been welcomed over the years and people have particularly rejoiced in the National Health Service. Now however, with the pressure on government finances, the commitment to our poor and disadvantaged is being compromised. We cannot afford the generous benefits that have become the norm. We certainly cannot afford those benefits without paying for them. FSW cannot afford to maintain its service to those it helps if we are not willing to pay for it. Her Majesty’s Government is withdrawing some of its support to our poorest and disadvantaged. The Church must not withdraw the support due to the poor in the Kingdom of God.
Those of us who acknowledge the reign of Christ and share in his ministry must not allow in His kingdom - what earthly politics dictates in Her Majesty’s.
Whether it is through the increased use of voluntary help or more sacrificial giving by members of the Church, we must not allow our commitment to the struggling to diminish.  If you are involved in fund-raising or financial committees in the deaneries, you must continue to fight for appropriate resourcing of the FSW whose energies and commitment are needed now more than ever.

In an earthly kingdom, financial constraints mean cuts in services. In the Kingdom of God, need and pain are met with a commitment to healing and justice. Financial constraints will test our commitment to the Kingdom of God and to those whom Christ came to serve.

Let us remain committed to the Good news we are called to proclaim and to reveal in service – and let us encourage our brothers and sisters in The Body of Christ to share that commitment, lest our worship become hollow and our hearts grow cold.

May God bless your every generous act done in His name. Amen.

Bishop Mark