The cheering, enthusiastic pupils from the Beacon CE School, Everton set a day of welcome for Bishop John Perumbalath as we announced he was to be the Ninth Bishop of Liverpool. Bishop Bev introduced our next bishop to a warm welcome before Bishop John addressed the school and opened and blessed a new classroom block.
In media interviews following the announcement, Bishop John set out a vision of compassion challenging us all to build communities and urging the government to show more humanity stating I think many of our politicians don't probably understand how ordinary people live''
You can watch his interview with Granada Reports here.
Bishop John will also be on Radio Merseyside this Sunday morning at 8am
Following the great welcome in Everton, Bishop John went to St Andrews Church in St Helens, to be with and pray for lay leaders who are part of the cultivate training programme for Fit for Mission.
There he was able to learn more about this important missional work and meet some of the people who are inspired by and inspiring this work. This included an entertaining summary of Fit for Mission from local leaders which you can watch here.
Following the interesting visit to St Helen's, Bishop John returned to Liverpool Cathedral to meet diocesan and cathedral staff, Area Deans, ecumenical and local leaders.
We look forward to introducing our new bishop to more of our diocese ahead of his installation at some point in the New Year.
Read the announcement story here
Photo credits: Gareth Jones