I've had the privilege of speaking at about 15 Anglican diocesan clergy conferences in the last couple of decades. At one of them a question came up in many conversations in terms of the encouragement/mentoring role of their bishops. Frankly, in that diocese the bishops were putters-out-of-fires, sackers of clergy who couldn't meet a minimum offering-level in their churches (mainly rural clergy and they'd had a terrible drought in much of the diocese for several years), and generally acted as ecclesiastical police at worst, or as providers-of-ecclesiastical-services (like confirmation) at best.

I was the key speaker. What was I to do? I decided on a tactic which only can be done by someone who doesn't need a return invitation: I asked around about who phones/emails them to ask how they're going, how should one pray for them etc.? One name came up: a parish clergyman who had the gift of encouragement, and did this regularly: I think to one person every morning as he was having his devotions. Most of the other clergy had got this sort of phone call from him, which often extended into a fruitful conversation, and, they told me, it 'made their day' etc.

So I 'innocently' asked in a plenary session, this (naughty) question: 'How many of you have had a phone call or email from someone asking how you're going? I know you'll get these calls from your bishops - that's their job - but I mean from others who are your colleagues?' Many put up their hands... (and the archbishop and bishops were, of course, very angry with me, because they never did it at all... but everyone got the message... )

Rowland Croucher