Bishop Given visits Rochester Diocese 

Bishop Given has now returned home after a very busy March in Ireland and the UK.

The month started with four days in London, co-chairing the annual ALICUM (Anglican–Lutheran International Commission) steering group meeting. Further information about that is here.

Immediately following that meeting, Bishop Given travelled to Ireland to spend a wonderful week with the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, which has a new companion link with Kondoa. Further information about that visit is here.

The Bishop then returned to the UK, firstly to spend two nights with good friends in Gloucester before travelling down to Kent to join us in Rochester.  

See left for a picture of Bishop Given being prayed for at the Kondoa Get Together.







Bishop Given always asks to be kept busy and he certainly had a full itinerary. He visited linked churches, met with a Minister in the Foreign Office and the Bishop of Oxford at Westminster to discuss the concerns about Tanzanian’s political issues and the number of people who are dead or still missing since the election period last October.

Bishop Given and Rev Judi Hammill, St James Tunbridge Wells, signing an agreement for phase 3 of the CCMP project

Bishop Given visited St James Church of England Primary School on the Isle of Grain and was very impressed by their teaching methods, including on the day of his visit, a mock overnight break-in by a monster that left footprints and drool behind and trashed two classrooms. The children were interviewing teachers and the writing up newspaper articles.

The annual get together that is arranged for those interested in Kondoa was arranged so that the Bishop could be there, partly so that in the short time he had available with us, he could meet as many people as possible.  Normally he is present virtually, so it was a treat to set and talk with him for about an hour about Kondoa.

The visit was topped off with attendance at the Archbishop’s Installation Service in Canterbury Cathedral and Bishop Given could be spotted on the BBC coverage, in the Quire.  

Bishop Given with long standing friends