In his Easter message, the Bishop of Carlisle draws on close ties with our county’s farming community as he talks of new life through Jesus Christ.

The Rt Rev Rob Saner-Haigh, was filmed during a tour of three farms in the Eden Valley and later at Bishop’s House in Keswick for his message which speaks of the hope our famers see in the arrival of Spring and the new life Christians experience through Jesus’ resurrection.

Bishop Rob explains: “There’s a moment farmers know well. After long, cold nights, and months of hard work, when it seems like winter will never end, one morning, something shifts. The light comes earlier. Lambs are born. Snowdrops give way to Daffodils. You can feel a hint of warmth in the air. The land opens up again. Easter is that morning — but for all of creation, for all of history.”

With global conflicts, tensions and mounting hostilities around the Iran war, Bishop Rob recognises the doubts and fears that people are feeling; fears which can be overcome through embracing God’s love.

He reflects: “In a world where it can feel that darkness is winning, where it can feel for many in our communities that they are burying their hopes and getting used to endless winter, Easter says that with God nothing is beyond hope, nothing is beyond redemption. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.”

To view Bishop Rob’s Easter 2026 message visit the Diocese of Carlisle’s YouTube channel.

Notes to editors

A full transcript of Bishop Rob’s Easter message for 2026 is attached below.

“There’s a moment farmers know well. After long, cold nights, and months of hard work, when it seems like winter will never end, one morning, something shifts. The light comes earlier. Lambs are born. Snowdrops give way to Daffodils. You can feel a hint of warmth in the air. The land opens up again.

Easter is that morning — but for all of creation, for all of history.

On Good Friday, the disciples stood in a darkness deeper and colder than any Lakeland winter. The one they had followed, the one they believed would make all things right, was dead and buried. Hope, it seemed, had been sealed in a tomb. The stone rolled across not just a grave, but across every expectation and hope they had.

But God was not finished.

On the third day, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Not as a metaphor or as a fairy story to give people false hope. No. Jesus rose as a living, breathing, wound-bearing reality. Death itself — the hardest winter there is — could not hold Him.

Easter is the good news that darkness does not have the final say. Death is not the end of the story. God’s love is greater than anything that can be thrown at it. Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

In a world where it can feel that darkness is winning, where it can feel for many in our communities that they are burying their hopes and getting used to endless winter, Easter says that with God nothing is beyond hope, nothing is beyond redemption. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Just as the winter gives way to the new life of Spring, God’s promises come to pass. Just as farmers work and look for new life, so we work and look for new life.

So, in our own day, we join with Christians across cultures and generations in giving that joyful shout which declares God’s victory over the darkness and offers hope for all.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter.”

ENDS

For further information contact Dave Roberts, Diocesan Head of Communications, on 07469 153658 or at communications@carlislediocese.org.uk.