Bishop Stephen spoke to Matthew Price on BBC Jersey this past Sunday where he shared his thoughts about the Deanery of Jersey formally becoming part of the Diocese, with the Deanery of Guernsey closely following suit.
Having previously described the diocesan relationship with the Channel Islands as the “icing on the cake”, Bishop Stephen began by explaining his own personal relationship with the area and his youth growing up in the coastal town of Poole.
Bishop Stephen recalled memories from his childhood where he watched the railway and boat train with a sense of wonderment, spotting signs on the sides of carriages labelled 'London', 'Southampton', 'Weymouth', and the 'Channel Islands'. Saying that every day it conjured up a sense of something wonderful, somewhere in the distance that you could just about get to.
“So it’s the icing on the cake because of happy memories, but also because of the future we’ll share together in new beginnings.” Bishop Stephen said.
The Bishop likened his new position as 'Bishop for the Channel Islands', to a pastoral role, and that he'll be there to lead alongside the The Very Revd Michael Keirle, Dean of Jersey, and The Very Revd Tim Barker, Dean of Gurnsey, instead of being there to exercise oversight.
Dean Michael and Dean Tim have been invited by Bishop Stephen to become canons of Salisbury Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese.
When asked what the canonisation will mean in real terms for the people of the Islands, Bishop Stephen said,
“It means that they belong, and in that sense symbolise the Islands belonging".
The topic of conversation changed as Matthew asked how the Bishop has been settling into his new role as Bishop of Salisbury.
“I’ll be perfectly honest with you Matthew, I’m loving every minute of it. As everybody knows, this is coming back to my home diocese and that’s very rare.” the Bishop said.
Bishop Stephen went on to reflect upon the challenges in the short, three, three and a half months that he has been in the diocesan bishop.
From the COVID crisis, to the war in Europe, the death of our beloved Monarch, change of Prime Minister, and cost of living crisis.
He ended on a contemplation for the future,
"I think there is a real sense of people wanting to belong, the real sense of the Church wanting to get going again, and to be looking outward, rather than being behind the closed doors that so many of us have been behind and gotten used to for so long.
"So for me, it's the same with the islands. It's about everybody, feeling that they're getting going again, being confident, being Church, and being as welcoming as we can for everyone."
The official service to mark the joining of the diocese and Islands will be at Salisbury Cathedral on 17 November, all are welcome.
If you'd like to hear the interview in its entirety, find it on the BBC website here from 1:10:00, to 1:18:00.