Pentecost 2025

A letter for the Day of Pentecost from Bishop Mike Stewart.

Dear Diocesan Family,

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you” (Luke 24:49)

The fulfilled promise of the Spirit takes place on the fiftieth day after Easter, known as the ‘Day of Pentecost’ (Whitsun). As the gift of the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the disciples of Jesus Christ, the Church is born. The Easter feast is shared with the Church, and the moment of empowering arrives, as the disciples are ‘all filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:4). This is the beginning of the new covenant age, whereby God puts his Spirit within them (Ezekiel 36:27). The Holy Spirit is the believer’s reservoir of power and unfailing guide; the means whereby Jesus is present with his disciples who are still in the world.  

As disciples of Jesus today, this is our story. Christians are not superheroes. Our identity as those who are now ‘in Christ’ is truly revealed to the world, when we are ‘clothed with power from on high’ (Luke 24:49). It is in this power that the words and works of Jesus are carried to the ends of the earth. We are his witnesses, by the power of the Holy Spirit, living within us and working through us.

It is no accident of course, that the day of Pentecost is the New Testament name for the Jewish festival known as ‘The Feast of Weeks.’ This is a harvest festival! On the Day of Pentecost about 3000 souls were added to the initial body of 120 believers, and the great harvest of the Kingdom of God began. In our own day, the words of Jesus remain, ‘The harvest is plentiful’ (Matthew 9:37).

As you gather in your respective Church communities this Pentecost Sunday, and celebrate the Birthday of the Christian Church, may you all know the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in your midst. The life we live and bear witness to in Christ, is not to be done through gritted teeth and clenched fists. It is not a matter of our own abilities or skills, for it is ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts’ (Zech 4:6). It is by the Spirit’s power alone that we will fulfill our mission as churches and as a diocese.

Come, O Spirit of God,

And make within us your dwelling place and home.

May our darkness be dispelled by your light,

And our troubles calmed by your peace;

May all evil be redeemed by your love,

All pain transformed through the suffering of Christ,

And all dying glorified in his risen life. Amen.
(Common Worship)

May the Holy Spirit of God bless and sanctify us so that we may be consecrated in the truth.

Happy Birthday, Church!

+Mike Stewart

The Right Reverend Mike Stewart
Suffragan Bishop