The Bible and the Bishop
(From the July - September 2020 issue of VOX)
“When I was made a bishop, they gave me a Bible and I promised, before God and before people, to open the Bible, to teach the Bible and to live by the precepts of the Bible.”
In Cavan, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, Rt. Rev Ferran Glenfield launched a new weekly podcast during lockdown to help people go deeper with the Psalms. We caught up with him on the virtual Finding Faith Tour to find out more about this project and about his passion for the word of God.
“The Psalms are a kind of go-to book in a time of trouble.”
“The Psalms are a kind of go-to book in a time of trouble. There are echoes in the Psalms that resonate with us. In my home life and ministry, when I’ve been in hard and tough places, I invariably turn to the Psalms,” Bishop Ferran said.
The new podcast was not something he would have considered in normal times but during lockdown people approached Ferran and suggested a regular online Bible teaching slot. “I would normally be preparing one or two sermons every week and that stopped during lockdown. I wasn’t going anywhere. I felt like Paul, when he said to Timothy, ‘I’m in prison but the word is not bound.’ We are in a form of self-imprisonment but that should not limit the word of God!”
And so the “Bible and the Bishop” podcast was born. To tune in, find the Podcast on www.keadiocesecoi.podbean.com. Every Wednesday, Ferran looks at a different Psalm. As we spoke he was preparing next week’s message on Psalm 16, digging deep into the Hebrew meaning of those ancient words to understand more of what David was saying.
Like most things, reading and studying the Bible requires an act of the will, Bishop Ferran explained. He recalled a time early in his ministry when a group of ladies came to him wanting to learn more about the Bible. Some of them had limited literacy but they were so committed to reading the Bible, that they learned to read well as they studied!
“Covid-19 has taught us what matters and what is really essential. You always find time for the things you really want to do (if you are in love with someone from Lithuania, you will learn the Lithuanian language!). But we will only prioritise reading the Bible when we have the desire to do that. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us that desire!”
“If there is a desire and a pressing need, you will do it. I’ve been very privileged in the sense that I’ve been very well taught. Over the years, I have developed a huge repository of stuff in my head and in books and notes. I would like to pass that on.”
At one time, Bishop Ferran ran a Book Club using Biblica’s publication “The Books of the Bible” which strips out chapter and verse formatting to encourage continuous reading. When people joined the club, they devoured the book.
“I would tell them, ‘Read page nine to page 20 and next week we’ll come back and talk about it.’ But they would say, ‘Why are we only reading ten pages?’ None of them were in a Bible study group but they were readers. I honestly think it was one of the best things I’ve done to introduce people to the scriptures.”
