Clergy and lay people gathered at Wells Cathedral on Tuesday, 4 April for the diocesan Chrism Service with the Blessing of the Oils and Renewal of Commitment to Ministry.
The service affirms the ministry of all God's people: bishops, clergy, deacons, readers, those in the vareity of lay minstries; and the whole people of God. Bishop Ruth presided over the service and Bishop Michael preached. The bishops said, "As bishops, we find the reaffirmation of our ordination vows a powerful reminder of God's call to us in that particular ministry. We hope that today, we will find the reaffirmation of our call to ministry a significant moment, both individually and corporately. Today is an opportunity to commit ourselves to God and to one another. We are reminded that he calls us to serve together, within one family, our communities.
In Bath and Wells, this generally takes place on the Tuesday of Holy Week, rather than Maundy Thursday to take into account the long distances that busy clergy and lay people may have to make.
In his sermon Bishop Michael talked of the roadmap to reconcilation, recalling hearing the news of the IRA ceasefire in 1994 and the signing of the Good Friday agreement whose 25th anniversary we shall mark next Monday. He said, "What I am interested in is how, as followers of Jesus, we can draw on his strength to make reconciliation possible in our lives and our day recognising that while it’s what we say we all want, achieving it is extraordinarily difficult. Where can we find the conviction and the resilience, the nerve and the faith to bring about the reconciliation that Jesus invites us to achieve?"
"The roadmap is set out in today’s Gospel. In word and action Jesus shows us what’s needed for reconciliation to take place."
He adds, "Jesus creates and calls for not a safe space but a brave space – where new possibilities can arise, hostility be overcome, imagination of a different future made possible."
As well as including a renewal of commitment to ministry, the service saw the Bishop Michael bless the special oils that will be used in parishes across the diocese. The oils are:
- the oil for the sick - remembering the teaching in the Epistle of James about anointing those who are ill
- the oil of baptism - used in many churches to trace the sign of the cross on those being baptised
- the oil of chrism - used for the consecration of church buildings and altars, at the consecration of a new bishop, and at the start of a new ministry.
At the end of the service the clergy collected their oils to take back to their churches, before enjoying hot cross buns and tea in the sunshine.
