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Bishop

‘Bishop’ comes from the Greek word for ‘overseer’. So a bishop is a senior Christian minister authorised to have oversight for God’s people. As well as duties given to deacons and priests, bishops confirm and ordain.

Diocese

‘Diocese’ refers to the geographical territory in which a bishop exercises oversight. The Church in Wales is divided into six dioceses each with its own cathedral in which is housed the cathedra (the bishop’s ‘chair’ or ‘throne’).

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Home News and Blogs Introducing the Bishop's New Chaplain and Her Favourite Part of Christmas

Introducing the Bishop's New Chaplain and Her Favourite Part of Christmas

Blog Posted: 28 December 2023

The Rev'd Emma Ackland begun her role as Bishop's Chaplain in November 2023. As part of her introduction to the Diocese, she tells us about her favourite part of the Christmas season.

New Bishop's Chaplain Emma Ackland holding an infant during baptism

Christmas day itself is not my favourite part of Christmas time. There, I’ve said it. I find that Christmas day can feel a bit overwhelming with a great deal of expectation attached to it. I worry in the lead up to it and I worry on the day. Has everyone got a gift they will like? Have I remembered to get crackers? Is there enough cheese?

I like this time. This time in between Christmas and New Year. These days that have lost the shape of our rushed lives. The days with no alarms set. The days when the special biscuits are open. The days when the only thing we have to do is ‘be’.

My husband is self employed and the time between Christmas and New Year is the only time in the year when his office is closed so it is a particularly special time for us. A time of rest and of being.

In my experience, these days have a deep sense of holiness too. That sense of our lives being stripped of deadlines, of emails, of places to be and people to see. There is a calm, there is a change of pace and there is a sense of space which our family doesn’t experience at any other time. There is a beautiful shapelessness to these days.

Of course, Christmas day has all the trumpeting fanfare of the Christ child’s arrival. As we unbox our gifts we are to be reminded of the unboxing of the incarnation, what a day. But the days following pose us a question; now what? A gap which calls us to examine what Jesus in our world means for us in the ordinariness, in the days which are not the fanfare days.

These in between days speak to me of God being with us in the ordinariness day to day. God of the blurriness of our lives and not just the vivid liturgical colours. God of the clearing up and not just the banquet.

So now what? How will the vulnerability of the nativity scene remain with us as these days regain their shape? The lines of routine and responsibility will soon be drawn again across our days but I hope that these unique and special days after Christmas day will hold some peace and some time for you to wonder at the gift of Emmanuel, God with us.