When St Augustine of Hippo (354-430) wrote his remarkable spiritual and theological autobiography called Confessions, his opening sentences were a paean of praise to God:

You are great, Lord, and highly to be praised (Ps. 47:2): great is your power and your wisdom is immeasurable (Ps. 146:5). Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you, a human being 'bearing his mortality with him' (2 Cor. 4:10), carrying with him the witness of his sin and the witness that you 'resist the proud' (1 Pet. 5:5). Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

That phrase: 'you have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you' is a perfect and precise description of many of us. Gerard Hughes, in his 'Lenten Reflections'[1] in The Tablet, picked up the Augustinian theme and then quoted from Bertrand Russell's autobiography:

The centre of me is always and eternally a terrible pain - a curious and wild pain - a searching for something beyond what the world contains, something transfigured and infinite - the beatific vision - God - I do not find it, I do not think it is to be found, but the love of it is my life - it fills every passion that I have - it is the actual spring of life within me.

If Augustine is correct, and if Bertrand Russell is correct about 'searching for something beyond what the world contains, something transfigured and infinite', then it seems reasonable to assume that every human being, of whatever race, colour or creed, has built into his or her soul, a desire to discover 'something transfigured and infinite'. And if that is the case, then one of the primary callings of our Church is to recognise that truth and to point people towards the place where the need will be ultimately satisfied, in God.

The problems that we face in doing this are three-fold. Firstly, other people assume that we are going to be judgmental and pious about their spiritual craving. Secondly, we may think that we have all the answers and therefore we do not truly listen to the deep human questions. And thirdly, we give the impression that we are a kind of spiritual sales force, and therefore people are wary of opening up to us honestly, because they might then lay themselves open to a sales pitch.

A few weeks ago I had two remarkable experiences on the same day. I spent a couple of hours in a project sustained and encouraged by Churches Together in Stevenage, called the 'Living Room'. It was the prayer child of a very remarkable person called Janis Feely who was, and is, supported by David Hague, the Vicar of St Peter's, Broadwater. The 'Living Room' exists to help people suffering from what Janis calls the 'illness of addiction', an illness which can manifest itself in drug taking, gambling, shopping, self harm, alcoholism, sex and serial love attachments. The people who provide the counselling are themselves addicts 'in recovery', that is, they know what it is to be hooked, but whilst they may have been off their addiction for years, they still describe themselves as 'in recovery'. The clients need to have reached that stage in their lives where they truly want not to be addicted - and then help can be given. The 'Living Room' has a 70% success rate.

I had the privilege of being invited to share in a group therapy session. Each person said their name, what their addiction was and how long they had been suffering. Some spoke with great fluency, others very hesitantly. It was a deeply moving experience to be part of the group because people were speaking with intense honesty about who they were and what they were struggling with. As each person finished their description, so the whole group thanked them.

The 'Living Room' is run by Christians; the meeting begins with a period of silence but there is no pressure at all for any individual to adopt or accept the Christian faith. I am proud to say that our diocesan Board for Church and Society has been significantly helpful in providing finance and support for the project.

So, I spent two hours in a group therapy session with people suffering from terrible addictions - but the level of honesty, and pastoral care and love, were and are astonishing. As one mother said (they run groups for friends and families of those addicted), 'God lives here.' I went from that to a meeting in Parliament of the All-Party Group on Palliative Care, of which I am a member. The Government has set up what it calls an 'End of Life' Strategy Group, whose remit is to improve palliative care provision in the NHS. Hooray for those who are trying to research the subject; hooray for those wanting to improve palliative care. But there was much talk of 'levering' new resources; there was much talk about training for doctors and nurses - 'We need to talk to patients,' said one of the experts.

I do not doubt for one second the integrity or the desire of the leaders of the strategy to improve things, nor do I deny the absolute importance of providing better palliative care - but I wanted those involved to shift their ground: not talking to patients but listening to patients, listening deeply to their joys and their fears, listening to their needs. In my view, only deep listening based upon total respect for the other person, and based upon walking with them on their journey, will do. The answers lie, paradoxically, not in answers but in listening, because God is there at the very heart of each one of us already ('our heart is restless until it rests in you').

We are a new diocesan synod, given the opportunity and the challenge to discern the way ahead for our diocese over the coming years. I want to suggest that as a priority, as a Church, we must learn to listen deeply to God, listen deeply to each other and listen deeply to the needs of our fellow human beings. Then, alongside that, we need to continue to take our 'Vision for Action' themes to the centre of our diocesan life, and to continue to work on them. If only you could all have been at the celebration held in the Abbey on Saturday 24 February, during which, under the leadership of Charlie Royden, Carol Chisnall, Laura Hart and Anna McCrum, we had our eyes opened to the bubbling vitality of many of the churches in our diocese. It really was a great occasion.

There are still a number of parishes who have not caught what 'Vision for Action' is all about and I hope they will be encouraged to be involved. It is not a top-down programme but the means whereby good news in our churches is shared. There are a significant proportion of our parishes which still do not take See Round (I have written to each one of them) and thereby cut themselves off from hearing about what others are doing, and cut themselves off from telling others their good news stories. We are a diocese and, amongst other things, that means that we have to care for each other, put up with each other, live with each other, support each other; we are to 'bear one another's burdens'. Where parishes or individual clergy cut themselves off from the diocese, they (and we) are the poorer. Our faith is based upon the relationship of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that love has to flow within and between all our churches, all our parishes. As the bishop of the diocese it is my privilege to lead us, collectively, and to try to discern, with you, where God is calling us next. In the Ordinal I am charged to serve and care for the people of God, to work with them in oversight. As a pastor I am required to share with my fellow bishops in maintaining and furthering the unity of the Church, in upholding its discipline and guarding its faith. I am to promote the mission of the Church throughout the world, to watch over and pray for those committed to my charge, to teach and govern after the example of the Apostles, 'speaking in the name of God and interpreting the Gospel of Christ.' I am to baptise, to confirm, to preside at Holy Communion, to administer discipline with mercy, to have a special care for the outcast and the needy, and to declare to those who turn to God the forgiveness of sins. Let me repeat, in case you think that I have constructed this description of a bishop's calling myself, it comes from the ASB Ordinal. These are the tasks, the duties and responsibilities, given to bishops by the Church and I, with my colleagues Bishop Christopher and Bishop Richard, try to carry them out as diligently as I and we can. It is our task to listen and our task to lead.

Let me, then, say where I think we should be going over the next few years. We should be:

1. Learning to listen to God, to each other and to the needs of individuals and our community.

2. Focussing together on the 'Vision for Action' themes.

3. Considering very carefully and creatively how we manage and distribute all the gifts God has given to us as His Church to fulfil His will in our generation.

4. Giving thought to new forms of lay and ordained ministry within our diocese.

5. Supporting, encouraging and nurturing Christian people, in their communities and in their workplaces, to minister in Christ's name and for His sake.

So now, let us go through these points in detail:

1. Learning to listen to God, to each other and to the needs of individuals and our community:

How? - By ensuring that in each parish there are serious and sustained opportunities to learn about prayer and the riches of spirituality in the Christian tradition. If such opportunities do not exist, ask why not - and then ask what you can do to ensure that a course on prayer and spirituality happens. And if a course is not possible, suggest that once a week, a small group of people meet in church, not to pray aloud, but to be in silence in the presence of God together.

2. Focussing together on the 'Vision for Action' themes:

How? - Take one of the themes in your parish you have not yet considered and follow it through. Let me give an example. 2009 is going to be the Year of the Child - so, why not set aside the last quarter of 2008 to review work with children in your parish, and then develop that work in 2009?

In 2008, why not concentrate on the theme of ministry - and set yourselves, as a parish, the target of nurturing one new Reader or ordinand during the next two or three years.

3. Considering very carefully and creatively how we manage and distribute all the gifts God has given to us as His Church to fulfil His will in our generation:

How? - In each parish review the committee and group structures. If you have done this recently, don't do it again but ask how the work can be done more creatively - and see what happens.

4. Giving thought to new forms of lay and ordained ministry within our diocese:

How? - I think we shall need to set up a group at diocesan level to see if we need a permanent, non-stipendiary diaconate. We have much to learn from our twin diocese of Linköping on this subject.

We shall need to ensure that more local ministry teams, of lay and ordained, are created - building on the work already achieved by Canon Robin Brown and his team. But we need always to be aware that people do not have to be in formal structures. There is much wonderful, unseen and absolutely vital ministry going on in all kinds of places.

5. Supporting, encouraging and nurturing Christian people, in their communities and in their workplaces, to minister in Christ's name and for His sake:

How? - In Hertfordshire alone (I don't have the figures for Bedfordshire) there are 49,600 businesses. If each business employs ten people, that's half a million work force. Workplace Ministry already ministers effectively across the diocese, but there are opportunities for more volunteer lay chaplains.

In communities (and I gave an example near the beginning of this address) there are countless opportunities of providing loving, pastoral care to all sorts of groups and individuals in need.

Now, I realise that in these five areas I have been flying kites. Some may continue to fly - and some may not get airborne at all. But I am certain that the five areas I have outlined are ones where there are great challenges and great opportunities. The confidence and creativity being nurtured by God across the diocese is a great blessing - and more will follow if we allow God Himself to lead us. And all of this is to be surrounded by prayer, by sacraments, by scripture, by learning - and in a spirit of commitment, not against one another, but with one another. The gifts are there, because God is there ...

Our final destiny, as individuals and as a Church is, of course, with God in heaven, and our deep restlessness will only be fully met and assuaged there. Meanwhile, each of us through our baptism, and all of us collectively as God's people, are challenged to so live that God's kingdom may be seen and His glory praised, on earth, in our generation.

© Christopher William Herbert, 2007

[1] The Tablet, 10 March, 2007, p.14.