Diocesan News
Poignant Service in Raphoe brings Bishop Good’s episcopal ministry to an end
The Rt Rev Ken Good lowered his crozier slowly onto the communion table in a Raphoe school on Thursday evening and his 17–year ministry as leader of his Diocese of Derry and Raphoe came to an end. He had chosen the Royal and Prior Comprehensive School as the location for the Ascension Day Service of Holy Communion which brought the curtain down on his episcopacy.
Hundreds of friends and colleagues of Bishop Ken and Mary Good had come from across the Derry and Raphoe dioceses, as well as from Lurgan, Wicklow, Cork and even further afield, to share the occasion.
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Raphoe, the Most Rev Dr Alan McGuckian, the Methodist minister, the Rev Richard Johnston, and the Rev Dr Brian Brown of the Derry and Donegal Presbytery, joined serving and retired clergy, and diocesan readers, from the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe at Thursday evening’s service, which took place in a huge marquee erected specially for the occasion in the school grounds.
The preacher, the Rt Rev Ken Clarke, who is Bishop Good’s brother–in–law, said it was “an incredible honour” to share in a very important night for the Good family and for the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe.
Referring to the first reading, Acts: 1:4–11, the preacher thanked God for a Bishop and his wife who had “caught the vision” that the ascended Christ shared with his disciples. “You know as well as I do,” Bishop Clarke said, “that for 17 years Ken and Mary have not only shared this vision but sought to live it out. You have come to know some of Bishop Ken Good’s great strengths. This will be no surprise to the people of this Diocese when I tell you that one of his strengths is clarity of vision. Another of his strengths is beginning something and completing it. Another of his strengths is to run faithfully and finish well.
“Who does that remind you of? It reminds me of Jesus. The Ascension speaks of all of those things. The Ascension is the completion of a task. The Ascension is the completion of a job well done and now Christ returns to heaven having completed his work on earth.”
Bishop Clarke applauded his brother–in–law’s commitment to team work and the diocesan vision statement, ‘Transforming Community, Radiating Christ’. “What a vision for any Church,” he said. “This is the vision of the ascended Christ. God has gifted Bishop Ken and Mary in living out this vision among you for the past 17 years. I know that after our Service tonight, some farewell gifts will be given to the Bishop and his wife. Do you know the best farewell gift you can give them (they haven’t asked me to say this, by the way)? Do you know the best farewell gift we can give them? Keep on keeping on. Be committed to this vision and live it out. Radiate Christ wherever we are, 24–7. Transform communities. Never side–line the vision of the ascended Christ, the vision the Goods have shared with us.”
Bishop Clarke said one of the biggest challenges facing the Church today was the need to “come down from our ecclesiastical and parochial mountains, leave our narrow cultural pedestals and win the world for Christ”. He urged the congregation to radiate Christ wherever they were and to make a difference in the lives of other people – their families, their neighbours, in their places of work, wherever they were, transforming communities and building the Kingdom of God. “I get excited about this vision,” he said, “and that is the task of every diocese in the world, of every church in the world, of every parish. We need more of the Father Heart of God. We need to weep as he weeps over those who are not yet reached with the Good News of Jesus.
“Do you know that in this marquee this evening the potential in the life of every Christian here is indescribably exciting?” the preacher continued. “There is potential in each one of us and the vision of Bishop Ken and Mary is that that potential will be released and unleashed into the Ireland of today and wherever God leads us.” Bishop Clarke said the challenge on all who claimed to be Christian was to stop looking aimlessly, whether it was upwards or downwards or inwards. And he spoke to the congregation about “the challenge” of the Ascension. “Jesus Christ gave himself away,” Bishop Clarke said. “What about us? Am I living purposefully and passionately for Christ, making the most of the time? Have I caught his vision? Am I moving in his call in my life? Am I running faithfully, living obediently, giving generously, determined to finish well? Am I committed to living a life which is all about giving, serving God, serving others, laying down my life for Christ and his Good News – the Gospel.
“In this Service of Holy Communion, we thank God from the bottom of our hearts for the Son of God, the ascended Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us; and rightly, we also thank God, especially tonight, for two of his followers, Bishop Ken and Mary Good, who have given of themselves in this Diocese, not keeping their lives but losing them in giving them away. Friends, that’s what you and I are called to do and called to be: to give our lives to him; to live our lives for him; and to live like him. Why do we stand here looking into the sky when we have the high call and the high privilege of living lives that are all about giving away?”
Mrs Good had earlier taken part in the Service, delivering the first reading – the Ascension Reading – from Acts 1:4–11. The Gospel was read by the Dean of Raphoe, the Very Rev Arthur Barrett, who coordinated Thursday’s service.
Prayers of thanksgiving for the Goods’ ministry were read by the Archbishop’s Commissary, the Ven Robert Miller, and the Archdeacon of Raphoe, the Ven David Huss. The Prayers of the People were read by Elaine Sproule and Whitby McClay. Music for the occasion was provided by the Mark Ferguson Band, the Rev Peter Ferguson, and Derry and Raphoe Mothers’ Union’s choir (accompanied by the Rev Canon Paul Hoey).
The most poignant moment in the service came near the end when Bishop Good stood before the congregation, holding his crozier out before him horizontally, and lowered it slowly onto the communion table, symbolizing the ending of his episcopal ministry.
After the Service, a superb supper was served in an adjoining marquee before well–wishers returned for the presentation of gifts. These included significant donations to the Goods’ nominated charities, International Justice Mission – which campaigns to end slavery, and the mental health charity Aware.
For further information please contact:
Diocesan Communications Officer, Derry & Raphoe
Mr Paul McFadden
028 7126 2440
07525 826290
press@derryandraphoe.org