You can listen to Bishop Graham’s interview on BBC Radio Norfolk on Sunday 2 February. Fast forward to 2:11:54. Available until 2 March.
A message from Bishops Jonathan, Alan and Graham:
We write with a care for everyone in the diocese of Norwich and with a desire that all may find life in all its fullness as Jesus promises. We are therefore deeply sorry for the hurt and anger that was caused by the House of Bishops’ statement issued last week about civil partnerships.
The three of us have spent the last two days at the College of Bishops where there was much heart-searching and a commitment to apologise and learn from what has happened.
At the conclusion of the College the Archbishops released a statement with which we concur:
We as Archbishops, alongside the bishops of the Church of England, apologise and take responsibility for releasing a statement last week which we acknowledge has jeopardised trust. We are very sorry and recognise the division and hurt this has caused.
At our meeting of the College of Bishops of the Church of England this week we continued our commitment to the Living in Love and Faith project which is about questions of human identity, sexuality and marriage. This process is intended to help us all to build bridges that will enable the difficult conversations that are necessary, as together, we discern the way forward for the Church of England.
The three of us are committed to working with everyone in the diocese to live our life together well. We pray that we can be a truly diverse and inclusive community sharing the faith, hope and love that we discover in God. When the Living in Love and Faith resources are published later this year, we will work to facilitate good conversations so that as a Church we can discern the wind of the Spirit concerning bringing about this vision of radical Christian inclusion.
Thank you for all that you give to our life together and for caring for people across our parishes, chaplaincies and other communities.
+Jonathan Meyrick +Graham Usher +Alan Winton
Bishop of Lynn Bishop of Norwich Bishop of Thetford