Farewell to Bishop John
10 Nov 2024 • Bowbrook News
It was a great pleasure and also a privilege to take up the open invitation to attend ‘the farewell service for John, 113th Bishop of Worcester on the occasion of his retirement.’
The cathedral bells were ringing fully, resounding in celebration throughout the city in a pretty exciting way!Bishop John had been in post for almost seventeen years and this was the day when we would ‘almost’ witness, the precise moment when he would surrender his crozier and be relieved of the tremendous responsibility which he has carried through a period in which he experienced the best and the worst times in his personal life.
He has shared openly that he has enjoyed every minute of being Bishop of Worcester but there is no doubt that he has worked very hard, carrying on valiantly through the illness and death of his young wife Denise. He served both The Late Queen and also King Charles as Lord High Almoner which is why we saw him at the coronation and was an active member of the House of Lords. At almost seventy years of age, he is ready for pastures new.
Tributes followed the more formal part of the service which not unexpectedly included a variety of music, psalms and bible readings. Everyone shared how much they had enjoyed working with him from his PA Catrine and Communications Officer Sam to his fellow bishops from the world church and also two of his suffragan bishops.
Everything that was done and said at the service was in stark contrast to the tone and values of our modern world. It was trusting, it was human, it was honest, it was kind and we saw before us a man who believes that we are part of the greatest love story ever told, ‘you and me and the whole of creation’. Bishop John preached inspiringly on the three ‘h’s’, humanity, humility and humour.
Bshop John built particularly close links with three bishops from the world Church, Magdeburg, Peru and Morogoro. The latter, Bishop Godfrey, who some Bowbrook parishioners met while visiting Morogoro, mentioned that there are now four hundred women priests in Tanzania, largely encouraged by Bishop John. That is change indeed for the world church!All spoke fondly of Bishop John, in their own languages, supported by translation in the OOS, but my favourite tribute was shared by Graham Usher, former Bishop of Dudley (now Norwich, who you may remember as support to Queen Camilla at the Coronation).
As a bishop new to the role, Graham Usher, when faced with a trying situation, imagined two voices, one on each shoulder, each offering advice.One was ‘a bishop’ with a Yorkshire accent who typically gave rather blunt and unsympathetic advice and the other was Bishop John. Bishop John’s imagined words were, ‘just love them’.
The part of the service was reached when the crozier, symbol of office for seventeen years, was relinquished and placed on the high altar, far away and out of sight, at the east end of the cathedral. There was an anthem and then silence, before all present became aware of Dr John Inge walking slowly down the aisle from the east to the west end, the trappings of office and ecclesiastical robes all gone, quite alone, head bowed, and robed in pure white. This was a very moving sight to witness, but one thing that struck me was, how often we had seen this inspirational church leader, sleeves rolled up, present and helping out prior to so many formal events at the cathedral, being with the people and one of the people.
God Bless John.