From the Bishop
Dear friends,
This edition comes as the Bishop, some clergy and some lay representatives recently gathered for the General Synod. It last met in 2022 and is likely to meet next in 2030. This week, the clergy of the Diocese will gather for the Annual Clergy Conference.
From its earliest times, the Church has needed to find ways of governing its common life. In Acts 15, we see leaders of the Church gathering to discern how discipleship among non-Jewish believers should be expressed. There was prayer, debate and disagreement as they sought a way forward together.
Anglican governance around the world has similar features. Clergy and laity meet with bishops to discern how the common life of a Diocese, Province or the wider Communion should be ordered.
It would be churlish to suggest that when the bishops gathered at Nicaea, in the presence of the Emperor, there was no politics. People naturally gather around champions of particular ideas and ideals. The same behaviours are evident in the Church today.
What should distinguish the political environment of the Church from that of secular councils and governments is our commitment to being formed and guided by the Scriptures as we pray, deliberate and debate.
The prophecy of Micah is addressed to God’s faithful people. The prophet calls them to orient their lives around God’s priorities:
God has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Please pray for those entrusted with governance in our Diocese: the bishops, the Diocesan Council, the Newcastle Anglican Corporation Board, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Leadership Team, as well as incumbents, churchwardens and parish councils.
Pray especially that all who exercise leadership in our Church may be given the gift of humility, shaped by the grace and blessing of God offered through Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit.
Grace and peace,
Bishop Peter Stuart
Anglican Bishop of Newcastle
Bible reflection: Micah 6:8
By Rev’d Canon Dr Christy Capper
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”
NRSVue, Micah 6:8
Micah chapter 6, verse 8, is one of two often-quoted verses from the book of Micah (the other being chapter 5, verse 2, which is often used during Advent). It is a verse that many people have written about, using it as a case study for thinking about Christian responses to poverty, nation-building and even COVID-19. And it can certainly be used for all these things. It is rich in meaning, and even richer when we consider the context of the book as a whole. The core material of the book of Micah was written to the Israelites in the 8th century BCE, with editing happening for a few centuries afterwards. This was before the exile of the Israelites into Babylon, though editing continued during that period. Chapter 6, like much of the minor prophets, has God calling Israel to account for their actions and unfaithfulness. Verses 6 and 7 pose four questions about what might please God, saying:
“With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
We often find ourselves still asking these questions. How can we please God? What does God require of us? It is a question that people of faith have asked for millennia. In the ancient world, there were gods who asked for significant things. They asked for firstborn children, for human sacrifice, and for large portions of flocks and crops. In that way, the God of Israel was a bit different. While we tend to think of the Law as particularly onerous and difficult to fulfil, for the people who first received it, the Law was at least clear! No more guessing what a god might require, giving more and more in the hope of attracting attention and favour. No, the Law told you what was required to please God: a freedom that many others lacked.
And yet, like all of us, Israel fell into patterns of uncertainty. There were times when children were sacrificed, when they were unsure what God wanted or needed. Some rhetorical examples of this are found in the verses quoted above, leading into verse 8. Verse 8 gives the answer: God does not require you to sacrifice your children, to give a thousand rams, or to offer the youngest and most precious sheep. No, God requires that we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly.
These things are, at once, both easier and harder. Paul speaks in Romans 12 about the idea of us being living sacrifices: not human sacrifices on an altar, but living people who have given their lives to serving God. And what does that look like? It is an ongoing commitment, not just a one-time thing. It is to get up each day and choose the side of justice, to choose the side of kindness, and to walk in humility with God. This is why authors use Micah 6:8 to look at ideas like poverty, disease, and what it means to be a Christian in the world today. Justice, kindness and humility are callings for all aspects of our lives as people of faith. How will we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God today?
Prayer Teaching
By Bishop Peter
One useful aid to prayer is to create a personal diary of prayer points and to make use of the prayer cycles provided by the Diocese, the Anglican Communion and other organisations.
A prayer diary helps us call to mind circumstances, communities, people and needs that are important to us. It can also change the way we approach prayer. Rather than trying to remember everything each time we pray, we are freed to give our attention to a smaller number of people and concerns, bringing them deliberately before God.
The Anglican Communion provides a cycle of prayer covering dioceses throughout the Communion.
The Diocesan Cycle of Prayer can be found using the link below.
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