I am very pleased to write this message as our Diocese happily celebrates and is giving thanks for my return as their Bishop, As a mark of our celebration, a new website is being launched www.dioceseoflucknowcni.org for our Diocese of Lucknow. I hope to use the site to offer thoughts and a possibility to promote dialogue within the Diocese and also with leaders & people of other Dioceses and Churches.
“The Internet makes it possible to reach far. The pandemic has shown us the importance of the Internet, and also its power as a way to spread knowledge”. The idea of a website came immediately in connection with my return, so that we all can communicate better and faster with each other through this tool. The Churches, Congregations and Institutions in our Diocese are reaching out to our own people with Christian education and to the people of our country with education, medical care, general counselling and service. This has been the Ethos of “The Church through the centuries”.
The website’s name is “Crescente in Christo” which is a Latin term for “Growing In Christ” and I seriously believe that no avenue should be left unexplored to ensure that there is a clear and practical recommendation found within Christian families and Churches as to grow in a joyful acceptance of the fact that all our development and evolution is based on our “Growth In Christ”. We grow only if we grow “IN HIM” otherwise we just live and die but we do not “GROW”.
At the very heart of the Gospel is the dynamic of learning. The Christian learns by constantly reflecting upon one’s life experiences lived with the gift of faith. Through such experiences we GROW in our lives as Christ’s body. “The Church” Lives to witness to the presence and action of Jesus Christ Our Risen Lord who reveals the life of God: a life of love. Being Christian is not a moral choice or a wonderful idea, but it is an encounter with Christ which gives life a new vision and a decisive direction.
My mission as a Bishop is to “Preach the Gospel”, at any cost, so the goal for the website is to act as a channel for this," "I feel that there is a thirst for knowing our master teacher Christ among all our people."Therefore, as Bishop and chief teacher of the faith, I encourage our Churches and Institutions to ensure that we start moving on the right track of learning & doing, forgetting our differences, if any, and building on whatever good and valuable we have been able to retain as we journeyed through a very rough phase in our Diocese. I pray that all we do may be done with faith and vision.
Our emphasis in “Growing in Christ” shall be loving one another, respecting and accepting differences, inclusiveness, gender justice, sharing from our abundance and also sharing sacrificially within and outside our Churches & Communities. Our role in many areas may appear to be insignificant but it exists and the zeal is contagious. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Small is big. We plan to go headlong, persistent and undaunted. Small persistent efforts we are making will surely help us reach our goal to recreate a just, tolerant and gender sensitive congregation.
Dear Readers, friends, Colleagues, Co-workers and Leaders, Thank you for all your support to us and as I close, I close putting my trust in The Lord and claiming this promise that He has given to us in His word: Haggai 2:9 “The Glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty.’ And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty.”
I strongly believe that with God’s Guidance and His mighty presence in our midst we shall be able to survive and continue to be “A Church” in the true sense of the word.
In Him,
The Rt. Revd. Morris Edgar Dan
Bishop, Diocese of Lucknow,
Church of North India.