The Worldwide Family

At our evening service on 25 September 2011 we (and several visitors from neighbouring churches) were delighted to welcome Bishop Stanley Hotay from the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. That Diocese has been linked with Leicester diocese since soon after its foundation, 30 years ago. Before the service, we were able to meet Bishop Stanley over a magnificent tea – very many thanks to those who had provided it.

Then, we moved to the Church to worship. It was good to remember that we and the Christians in Tanzania are united as members together of the worldwide Church, the body of Christ here on Earth.

Steve Bailey, our vicar, interviewed Bishop Stanley and he told us how God had led him into Christian ministry since his commitment to Christ as a sixth former. His first church had been another St Paul's – in Arusha. He shared with us the joys and sorrows, problems and opportunities for his diocese, based on Arusha, which even after its recent division into two dioceses (the other is now Kiteto), is still the size of England. However, despite its limited resources, the church is growing fast.

In his address to the church, Bishop Stanley took as his text Christ's Great Commission recorded in St Matthew's Gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." It was a challenge for the church in Tanzania. But it was also a challenge for us here in Oadby. Christ calls all of us to make him known to those around.

Together, we joined in hymns, worship songs and prayers until Bishop Stanley sent us out as he blessed us in Swahili.