February 09 +Graham FAREWELL TO CUMBRIA
I am now just over two months away from the end of my time as Bishop of Carlisle. It has been a great privilege to be the bishop in this beautiful county, and it has been a happy time both for Molly and for me. We shall treasure many memories of its people and its good food;
and we shall hope to return in holiday mode to spend more relaxed time in some of the spots which we long to explore. I have also been blessed with outstanding colleagues: the team work I have known has exceeded anything I had experienced previously.
Particular highlights for me are the long walk (315 miles) in the Spring of 2002, along with the two subsequent walks in 2003 and 2005, and the visit of the Archbishop of York in September 2006. Only two months of my ministry had passed when the Foot and Mouth epidemic began. Some saw this as a ‘baptism of fire'; but it was also a time when the parish clergy excelled in the support they gave to the farming community.
We have received several blessings from the people of Cumbria: first, kindness. Again and again those whose help we have sought, or needed to keep the wheels turning at Rose Castle, have responded with a generosity of spirit and a simple kindness which one does not meet everywhere. I have often said, ‘kindness is a value in Cumbria'.
Secondly, there is a sense of community. Elsewhere in Britain this is being lost. In Cumbria many communities are small enough for people to know each other and share a common interest in doing things together. But in some places community is threatened by second homes and properties to let.
Thirdly, there is a growing desire to share in spiritual life and ministry. People have been coming to teaching days and looking for ways of making sense of things growing in faith. There is an increasing upsurge of lay ministry. But in some communities bad memories still linger and families need to forgive and be fully reconciled.
And if I could change anything, what would it be? In spiritual terms I would seek a church which reinvents itself to be more child friendly, more participative and which brings together all ages for its worship. The young have been voting with their feet for years.
In economic terms the future of the county and its economy are on my heart. The University of Cumbria brings exciting new opportunities in Carlisle along with the Carlisle Renaissance Vision. We need to keep learning from Newcastle and elsewhere how to make our city more vibrant.
There are great opportunities on the West Coast, with collaboration between the university, the new hospital, training and research in nuclear science and further education. I would seek to raise aspirations with greater pride in such centres of excellence. I would develop the West Coast from Silloth to Whitehaven with a common vision for tourism in which the various centres pulled together and did not compete for resources. And I hope that the vision for Barrow with its regeneration and marina is highly successful.
To help the economy, I would seek a better infrastructure, with dual carriageways East to West (A590, A66, A595 ). They would make the national park more accessible; in my view its voice should not be the decisive voice about the roads. Above all, to go forward requires strong leadership. I see the need to lay aside our parochialism. All of Cumbria must pull together, accept leadership and not just fight our own corners.
Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle
