13/07/2024
Archbishop Stephen addressed York Diocesan Synod today. The address follows in full:
Meeting here in York last weekend, the General Synod of the Church of England discussed a motion brought by the Winchester Diocese proposing that an uninterrupted rest period of 36 rather than 24 hours should be written into what is known as a clergy person’s Statement of Particulars – a sort of description of the responsibilities and conditions that go with a post.
Actually, as officeholders ,not employees, clergy, as long as they undertake their basic duties – presiding at services, burying the dead, chairing the PCC etc - can take as much time off as they like.
But most don't. In fact a great many don’t really take a proper day off at all. Therefore, this motion articulated an important principle: that sabbath rest, refreshment and recreation is vital for human well-being.
For all of us.
In the debate, we were reminded that the Hebrew word shabat carries two meanings in English: ‘cease’, but also ‘delight’. Therefore, not just stopping, but also enjoying. On the seventh day, God ceases from labour and enjoys the good creation God has made. We are called to do the same. Especially tomorrow evening, when I very much hope England might beat Spain!
In fact sabbath is the main thing that God says to us about the organisation of time. And just as the sabbath is both a gift of God in creation and a commandment, so we in the church, clergy and lay people, even though we already have the right to take more time off, can benefit from the permissive obligations of a change in our statement of particulars. It might just help us to start taking rest seriously.
I therefore hope clergy and lay ministers in the diocese of York will take heed, and take more than a day off. I hope everyone will support this. And I hope all of us will take seriously the biblical challenge of sabbath: to cease; to rest; to enjoy; and to stop thinking it all depends on us.
To rest and delight in God. To rest and delight in Jesus.
Nearly 20 years ago, I wrote a little book called Do Nothing to Change your Life. This was also about the importance of rest and contemplation.
To publicise the book the publishers had the bright idea of getting me down to Reading at eight o clock on a Monday morning. Armed with a box of egg timers, I handed them out to the commuters who were pouring into the station inviting them to take three minutes off – the time it takes to boil an egg – and see if it made a difference. ‘Receive the gift of time,’ I said to each of them.
Most rushed past me.
‘I haven’t got time!’ said one.
‘We’ve all got time,’ I wanted to say. ‘It’s what we do with it that matters.’ But they were gone.
But one person, receiving the egg timer with joy, thanked me. ‘This is what I need,’ she said.
It is what we all need; and not just the rest, but also the good things that flow from abiding in God; the sort of things our Diocesan Rhythm of Life encourages and promotes.
And of course this pattern of prayer and rest is evident in Jesus's life and ministry. Moreover it is from the wellsprings of rest and contemplation that the greatest creativity often flows. And in a very moving speech, our own Steve Wilcox, referencing John 15, spoke about how we, as followers of Jesus, work from a place of rest. We bear fruit by abiding in Christ who is the vine.
A disclaimer: I am not very good at this. I talk a good game. I write a much referenced book about it. But I don't get it right in my life. And yet I also know, that when I do find time for rest and refreshment, for prayer and for intimacy with God, an intimacy which for me is often found in solitude and waiting, it does lead to greater creativity. From the greater knowledge of how beloved I am to God, I also learn how God wants to work and be fruitful in me.
So clergy, stipendiary and self-supporting, please see if you can take a bit more time off: maybe hearing it from me might help you in your parish - time for yourself and for your family and time for prayer, retreat and pilgrimage. And congregations and PCCs, please do your best to make sure this is happening. And since we live in such a busy, frantic world. And since we are often bedevilled by short term thinking and by too many people who hit the ground running without giving proper attention to the direction in which they are travelling, at a time of change in our nation with a new government and new opportunities - let us all give time to kneeling: to contemplation and prayer, to rest and recreation so that all we do flows from our belonging to Christ and his great investment in us. Let us show the world the forgotten gift of the sabbath. And by the way, this may also be best way of dealing with some of the other issues we face. Because it leads to joyful, surprising fruitfulness.
Finally, I cannot let this Synod pass without paying tribute to the creative fruitfulness and long commitment to Christ that has been the faithful and persevering ministry of my dear brothers in Christ, Bishop Paul and Bishop John. They are episcopal blood brothers, starting and finishing their ministries as bishops on the same days. There will be services in Selby and Northallerton tomorrow to say farewell, and a service in the Cathedral on Tuesday at 5.30. You are all welcome.
Paul and John, in the different ways God has blessed and gifted you, you have richly blessed and very faithfully served this diocese of York, showing us what us looks like to abide in Christ. We thank you and esteem you; we assure you of our prayers; and we wish you every blessing.