Southwark Report 2020_NEW final -Single pages

IMPACT
REPORT
Clergy Reflections on 2020
THE YEAR 2020 - THE YEAR
OF THE GOD WHO SPEAKS
Like everyone else, I looked forward
to 2020 as a year to celebrate this
beautiful theme of ‘The God Who
Speaks’. Scripture is at the centre
of everything the Church does, and
my diary filled up so quickly with
invitations from deaneries, and
parishes to explore the richness of
scripture and our understanding of
it. Little did I know that God had a
completely different plan.
With a few days to go before delivering my
presentation to Extraordinary Ministers of
Holy Communion and Readers in the South
East area of our Archdiocese, the gathering
was called off. This was the beginning of
a new experience for me. “The God Who
Speaks”, henceforth, manifested a new
vision for his Church, not even the global
pandemic could stop the spread and the
teaching of God’s word. In Camberwell,
it was an easy transition even during
lockdown, because our livestream camera
had already been in the Church for over
8 years; intended for our housebound
parishioners to follow Mass online. Since
COVID-19, our parish is truly international
in nature, as we have over 600 people
following our livestreamed services and
devotions from all over the world.
For the first time, we ran a very successful
online catechetical programme for about
40 children preparing for First Holy
Communion and for about 55 Confirmation
candidates. Attendance at these sessions
was a remarkable 98%. As the programmes
were family oriented, the parents were
also able to participate in the catechetical
formation of their children. I found my
weekly sessions very uplifting and inspiring,
especially as we shared our struggles and
challenges and explored themes of our
faith and relationship with Christ.
In the early stages of the pandemic, the
whole world watched the gruesome and
brutal killing of George Floyd. This was
followed by protests all over the world to
highlight anew the evil of racism. Archbishop
John responded promptly, and spoke out
clearly against this form of discrimination.
This was a moment of grace that led to the
creation of the Commission for Promoting
Racial and Cultural Inclusion, and my
appointment as Episcopal Vicar to head this
Commission. “The God Who Speaks” inspired
the birth of this Commission. Our primary
task, is to speak out clearly against racial
prejudice, using scripture as a foundation to
stress anew the sacredness of human life; that
we all are created in the image and likeness of
God (Gen 1: 27). Every life must and should
be respected, loved and valued by all.
The roadmap of the Commission is
very promising as we collaborate with
schools, through the Southwark Education
Commission, to highlight the immorality of
racism. I have had the pleasure of supporting
a number of secondary schools both online
and in person during the past year, and
have also had the opportunity to speak out
against racism and to share the vision of
our Commission with the faculty of Religion
and Theology of the University of Durham.
Writing this report in 2021, we are also now
beginning to engage with parishes remotely.
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