News

ANNUAL MEETING 2023

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Canon Adrian Hughes welcomed everyone to St George’s and introduced Bishop Stephen Race, the new Bishop of Beverley.

 

A brief summary of the address by +Stephen.

 

Bishop Stephen was born in Southern Africa. He told us of his life there, of how he was brought up in the catholic tradition of the Anglican Church. Amidst the injustices of that time, in spite of his youth, he was very aware of the tensions between the different communities, Black, White and Coloured, and between Anglophones and Afrikaners. His father was ordained in South Africa. The family lived in a “white area” and his school was opposite a school for the Cape Coloured, a sub-set of the Coloured; this school was of a poor standard. He visited the shanty towns with his father and this was part of what formed his Christian faith. Their house was subject to surveillance by the police.  His father held several posts across Southern Africa. He is firmly committed to the doctrine and the traditions of the church.

 

When he was c.20 the family was expelled from South Africa and came to Britain. He went to Durham University where he met his wife. He and his wife went to Kenya to teach; there they found a strongly tribal society. On returning to this country he went for ordination training at St Stephen’s House, Oxford. After ordination in The Diocese of Carlisle he served his title at Wigton, in Carlisle Diocese. and has since served in the Wakefield and Leeds Dioceses. He has been a Diocesan Director of Ordinands and an Area Dean.

 

He was consecrated as Bishop of Beverley on St. Andrew’s Day 2022 (30th November) in York Minster. Since his consecration he has been talking with senior staff in the Durham and Newcastle Dioceses to see how the Northern Dioceses are coping. He reminded us of how Covid and the lockdown have had such an effect on the church. He also reminded us that we are a gift to the wider Anglican Church; we must be a strong force in bringing our tradition to the wider church. To further this more vocations must be encouraged.

 

He commented that there is  widespread ignorance in the C of E of The Five Guiding Principles. Some seem to think that traditional catholics are oddballs.

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Following his talk a period of discussion followed. Discussions were about:

1. Vacancies in parishes and the pluralities and sizes of teams, clusters etc. that priests are responsible for.

2. There was also concern that fewer people are offering themselves for ordination.

3. Lay ministries and how they might be used were also discussed.