A centenary message from Bishop John
This year, 2023, we come together to celebrate 100 years of our witness in the Church in Wales as the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon. Giving thanks for what has been, for what is, and for what is yet to come.
In these times, when we are faced with particular difficulties, the recent pandemic, the fuel and food crisis and war in Ukraine, it can be easy to simply mirror the mood reflected at us and forget that we are born as people of promise.
In 1 Kings 8.56, Solomon’s Benediction at the completion of the Temple opens with a reminder:
“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”
As we look back, we are reminded of the blessings that God has given in all circumstances during the past 100 years. There have been dark days and fears for the future; there have been days and times of great promise and joy. Those who toiled before us have lived throughout it all by faithfully acting as Christ’s presence in the world. They are an example, our own cloud of witnesses, whose lives and faith can teach us what commitment in Swansea and Brecon looks like.
Today it is our time, and the promise remains the same. Christ says he will never leave us or forsake us. We are called to be the church of today. Solomon says in his time that he maintained the cause, that he pleaded with God day and night for this cause. Why? In order that the “whole earth may know that the Lord is God.” He called the people to be wholly true, wholly faithful, to walk in God’s Statutes and trust in the Lord.
Solomon doesn’t talk about the fear of failure. Despite knowing how hard life can be, he knows that without the good news of God’s plan for humankind it can only be harder. Similarly, Micah, the prophet calls out: “Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” And Paul reminds us in his epistle to the Romans that, “Nothing in the whole of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is our Gospel: Swansea and Brecon’s good news message to the world. This same sense of purpose, this joy, this love that God has for us all, gives us the confidence to be a people who celebrate eternal truth and ceaseless power of God’s promises even in the face of everything the world throws at us. This is our counterculture, the way that we can be as salt or lights in a dark world – is what makes us distinct in our world.
We are young compared to this eternal Gospel handed down to us through the ages. But a hundred years is a great milestone, and a great time to remind ourselves of just who we are in God’s great plan.
There are a whole series of events organised for us this year, all of which are being publicised, all of which you are warmly invited to. Our team, drawn from across the diocese have been working hard to make sure this is truly a moment for celebration and thanksgiving.
So, I think it’s only right that we thank them for their tireless efforts for the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon. Keep them and all the church in your prayers, and may you be especially blessed in this our 100th year.
