|PIC1|The new Bishop of Oxford urged churchgoers to pay attention to modern-day culture as well as Christian traditions in their bid to communicate the Christian message.

"We have to attend to the riches of the Christian tradition and also to the realities of contemporary culture," the Rt Revd John Pritchard told diocesan synod, according to the Diocese of Oxford Reporter.

A recent survey showed that people thought marriage preparation classes are important before church weddings, and equally important afterwards.

The world was "hungering" for the Christian message, he said, and he urged churches not to be apologetic about it.

In his first wide-ranging address to diocesan synod - the decision-making body for the Diocese of Oxford - Bishop Pritchard set out his principles for governing well. Maintaining the 'sacred centre' of life and "furthering the Kingdom" were central, he said.

"Prayer is the real business," he said. "Can we be committed to sustaining the sacred of our diocesan life and doing it here in synod?

"The important point is that we're not a beleaguered remnant in society planning an honourable retreat. We're a community of joyful, confident pilgrims praying that more people will hear the Good News about what a good God did on Good Friday to make the world good. We're concerned about changed lives and changed communities, starting with ourselves."

He promised to put real human relationships at the heart of his work, and said they should be at the heart of synod, too.

"Fundamentally we are God's people taking counsel together, bringing our parishes with us, and remembering that behind each report, each paper, each set of figures, are people - people who pray and struggle, and dream and sometimes weep, people like you and me. God's wonderful, resourceful, fragile people."

Ethical decision making would also be key he said. "We can't look society in the face if we don't ask ourselves questions about trade justice, peace making, the environment, carbon emissions and so on. Increasingly society looks at us to demonstrate our integrity before we speak about its source. We have to live it before we can say it."

Bishop Pritchard was speaking just eight days after his inauguration in Christ Church Cathedral.

It had been a frantic few days, he said, and he compared himself to riding a racecourse in the Derby. "I'm still clinging on," he said.

He plans to meet thousands of people across the three counties of the Diocese of Oxford in the next few weeks.

His address was greeted with lengthy applause from synod members, who come together three times a year for the meeting in St Andrew's Church, High Wycombe.





Source: Diocese of Oxford