Diocesan Press Release

The Fruits of Diversity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  13 October 1998

The Rt Rev Dr Tom Butler, the new Bishop of Southwark, spent last weekend (10/11 October) meeting and greeting people from two of the areas of his Diocese.

Saturday began with an early morning Eucharist at St Paul's, Thamesmead. This was followed by breakfast at Greenwich Town Hall at the invitation of the Mayor, Cllr Don Austen. Councillors and local MPs were also present.

Throughout his travels around the Woolwich area on Saturday Bishop Tom spoke of the commitment of the Diocese to work in partnership with the local boroughs to ensure the regeneration of the area and planning together for the best of possible lives for our communities.

Later in the day, at St George's, Camberwell, Cllr Janet Heatley, the Mayor of Southwark welcomed him to the area. Wherever people gathered to meet him there were gifts and welcome greetings for the Bishop.

On Sunday over 500 people representing the Kingston Area of the Diocese greeted Bishop Tom at St John's, Waterloo. The newly refurbished church was packed full. All the seats were taken and there were people in the gallery and some even had to stand. The welcome began with 12 people from the Battersea Deanery, all originally from different parts of the world, greeting Bishop Tom and his wife, Barbara, in their own language. They presented him with a basket of 12 different exotic fruits to represent the diversity of those present.

Other presentations followed from the different deaneries during which the Richmond and Barnes Deanery, all holding oars, demonstrated their connexion with the Boat Race by showing that they were all rowing in the same direction.

The children of St Mark's School, Kennington delighted everyone with their songs during the event and children from other schools in the area also joined them and displayed the banners that they had made.

He was also interviewed by Canon Roger Royle, well known for his broadcasting on Radio 2.

The weekend ended with the release of 250 balloons form the church each with the inscription, 'The Kingston Area welcomes Bishop Tom'.

Bishop Tom commented that he'd had a busy and enjoyable weekend and was grateful to all those who had taken part in the events. 'But', he went on to say, 'the important thing about a series of events like this is that people get a chance to meet each other and get to work together and we can begin to build more caring communities for us all'.

The Bishop will be greeted by the people of the Croydon area on Saturday 31 October.

Ends.