The Mission of the Church is often very narrowly defined – especially if we take the view from the pew. It seems to be largely about filling the pews. Important though Church growth clearly is, that is by no means the whole story. God is at work in the world – we go out to meet him and give him a hand. The work of the Northumbrian Industrial Mission is a clear reminder of that. There are more people in the workplace than there will ever be in church and we need as Church to be seeking to engage with the working and economic community- speaking of Christ’s presence in the midst.

As a diocese we are grateful for the work done by NIM in the region through its matrix of chaplains, stipendiary and voluntary, lay and ordained. Well done to you all! We know that things are changing in this work, the numbers of stipendiary chaplains have reduced and this mirrors similar reduction in parochial clergy, but there has been an enormous rise in voluntary chaplaincy and it is encouraging to see that NIM now has good experience in training, co-ordinating and supporting a growing group of chaplains. Keep on with this good work. I look to NIM to help parishes see their wider mission into the world and be a resource to local clergy and congregations to help them to engage more effectively to the places of work and economic life in their communities.

During this year, my second as Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle Diocese, I have become more closely acquainted with the work of the NIM chaplains in the region.

Chaplains are called by God to a life and a pastoral ministry of holiness. They are to fulfil their role in faith, hope and charity, encouraging others to discover the wonderful ways of God’s love in the ordinary events of daily life. Chaplains are never alone but represent in their lives and their work, the Church’s mission to care for and to accompany each person in their personal journey through life in this world and into the next.

I would like to see more Roman Catholics playing an active role in this ministry which I believe is particularly suitable for lay men and women who have experience in the world of work. I have pledged my support to encourage individuals in this difficult and challenging role. Indeed, I have been able to show this during the past year by providing some diocesan funding for training. I am also keen to ensure that Voluntary Associate Chaplains are encouraged and supported from within their parishes.

In this way we can help to fulfil our responsibilities as directed in Pope Benedict’s recent and first encyclical letter – " Love of our neighbour, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local community, to the particular Church to the Church universal in its entirety"

I am delighted to commend the work of the Northumbrian Industrial Mission and give thanks to God for all of the support it gives to our Chaplains working in the transport, retail and leisure industries and in other related places.

It was asked dismissively concerning Jesus: "Isn’t this the carpenter’s Son"? but I recall my father who worked in industry all of his life saying that it was this that attracted him most to Christ – that alongside him in office and on the factory floor was One who had stood where he was and that when he sought guidance concerning terms and conditions of employment or how to bring management and unions together he was talking to One "who spoke the same language".

And how important it is today that The Gospel should be communicated in a language (which includes but isn’t exclusively about words) that people can understand in that place where they spend so much of their hours. NIM continues to hold a vision before us of the whole of a person’s world belonging to and of concern to Christ. I am grateful to them and ask for your ongoing prayers for its work.

The exciting thing about Industrial Mission is that it has always been about pushing frontiers – identifying where the gospel and kingdom challenge is already engaged in the workplace, affirming and reinforcing that challenge and working out how to read back what is learnt there, into where the Churches reflect on their wider life and work.

Salman Rushdie recently wrote " We are living in a frontier time, one of the great hinge periods in human history, in which great changes are coming about at great speed…. The frontier both shapes our character and tests our mettle. I hope we pass the test."

NIM is starting to push some of its own frontiers in respect of changes in patterns of working – particularly the movement into using part-time and voluntary chaplains. I look forward to the results of their plans to develop a flexibility of response to the very fluid culture in the economic and industrial activity of our region, and to having a greater involvement together with all who are struggling to read the signs, learn the lessons, and work out how the Churches can best engage with the economic and social life of the North East.

And a final few words from our Anglican sponsors.

Ever since I worked for the Sheffield Industrial Mission in the 1960’s it has been a major interest and concern of mine that Christians should be helped to relate their faith to their daily life and their daily life to their faith. In other words to discover and celebrate and wrestle with the connectedness of their attendance at Sunday worship and their lives lived in God’s world for the rest of the week.

The Northumbrian Industrial Mission aims to achieve this through its "Christian care, thought and action in the regional economy".

The extensive team of stipendiary and non-stipendiary Chaplains, both lay and ordained – representing the major denominations – exist to enable the awareness of God’s loving and sustaining presence here and now, to be brought to shoppers and sales persons, fitters and fire crews, directors and distributors, passengers and pilots wherever they are encountered.

It is very encouraging to see, the recent recruitment, selection and training of Voluntary Associate Chaplains and I look forward to hearing more of their ministries and their impact in years to come.