The Archbishop of York's office has announced today that Bishop Glyn Webster, the Bishop of Beverley, will be retiring on the Feast of the Epiphany, 2022. The Chairman of The Society's Council of Bishops, Bishop Tony Robinson, commented: "Bishop Glyn has ministered to Society parishes across the Northern Province with great distinction over the last eight years. The Society joins many others in wishing Glyn a long and happy retirement. We pray that the appointment process for the next Bishop of Beverley can be concluded promptly and successfully."

The Society encourages all of its parishes, and indeed all Christians, to participate in the Thy Kingdom Come initiative which this year runs from Thursday 13 May, Ascension Day, to Sunday 23 May, the feast of Pentecost.

The Ascension of the Lord marks a new moment in the life of the community of Christ’s followers. Jesus returns to the Father in order to send upon them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and so, from earliest days, Christians have used the days following Ascension Day to wait in prayer for the renewing, reviving gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

This time of expectant waiting echoes the experience of the Apostles who gathered with the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer before the Spirit came upon them.

This period of prayer is often referred to as a ‘novena’, which is an ancient practice of the Church to spend a series of consecutive days or weeks in prayer for a particular theme or intention.  In praying this novena, we are uniting ourselves with the ancient tradition of the Church.

In recent years, this period has been given a particular focus through the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ initiative; a global ecumenical movement that invites us to pray for strength in conviction as we live out our faith in our daily lives and as we strive to draw others into a lively relationship with God in Christ and in the fellowship of his Church.

It is very welcome that, unlike this time last year, we are now able to attend church services in person. If you feel able to do so safely, we ask that you pray in church during this special period of Christian witness.

In doing this, we seek to join our brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic Church in looking to place attendance at the Sunday Mass at the heart of our lives in what we hope will soon be a post-pandemic period.

There are also lots of resources on the Thy Kingdom Come website as well as our own resources from previous years.

Parishes of The Society running events as part of this initiative are encouraged to use the hashtags #TheSociety and #ThyKingdomCome when promoting them on social media.

+TONY WAKEFIELD

The Rt Revd Tony Robinson

Chairman of the Council of Bishops