Welcome Bishop Rod!

It was a joy to welcome Bishop Rod as the new Bishop of Stepney at All Saints Poplar on Monday, and wonderful to see so many clergy, LLMs and congregation members from across Stepney gathered to support him. The service was full of joy, thanksgiving and hope for the future of the Stepney Area and the wider Diocese.

In an inspiring sermon, Bishop Rod spoke about truth, service, doctrine and the life of the Spirit as key priorities for us as a family of churches in East London.

He encouraged us to live a lively faith: to love Jesus deeply and continually stir up the gift of faith within us. Our lives are to be shaped by encounters with God and his love, marked by a wholehearted faith and an explosion of joy.

He urged us to think and speak theologically together, reminding us that good theology changes lives. The Spirit who leads us into truth leads us into truth together, and that truth brings freedom and life.

Bishop Rod also called us to be humble and generous in orthodoxy: deeply rooted in truth and revelation while committed to building fellowship across our churches.

He reaffirmed his commitment to preaching the gospel across Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and Islington, reminding us that each of us is called to be an ambassador for Christ.

And he pledged to be, above all, a missionary bishop, creatively proclaiming the good news of Jesus wherever God sends him.

Please do continue to pray for Bishop Rod and his family as he begins this new ministry, that God would sustain him with wisdom, joy and a deep life in the Spirit amid all the demands of leading the Stepney Area.