The next Bishop of Aston prays an “impossible prayer” for the growth of the church

The new Bishop of Aston, Canon Esther Prior, is praying “an impossible prayer”: that ten percent of people in the Birmingham diocese be allowed to attend C of E churches.

Shortly after her announcement as the next suffragan bishop of Aston on Thursday morning, Canon Prior, who is currently vicar of St John the Baptist in Egham, said she was inspired by St Paul “because she is someone who prays ‘impossible prayers’.” .”, as I call them”.

Your prayer is for a dramatic increase in attendance at Birmingham’s churches. “I pray for a tithe of the city for the Church of England,” she said – an increase that would amount to a tenfold increase on current figures.

Canon Prior’s particular focus in her new office will be service and mission, and she sees the former as an integral part of the latter.

“The number one thing that gets me up in the morning is the well-being of the clergy,” she said. She also wants to promote vocations. “If we don’t get this right, the mission will be in trouble: the two are intertwined.”

While she professes to “love strategy” and is not afraid of management conversations, Canon Prior is open about the task ahead if Birmingham is to see the growth of the faithful she prays for. “Only God can provide an increase, and if we are serious about people coming to prayer and coming to faith in Jesus Christ, it has to start with prayer,” she said.

With this in mind, their first step will be to form a group of people dedicated to praying for ten percent. “Ideas will flow from there, but that has to be the starting point,” she said.

Canon Prior was born in Malawi and spent her childhood in Zimbabwe. She first left Africa in 1999 when she moved to England to prepare for ordination at Trinity College, Bristol.

“My entry into British society was actually quite welcoming,” she said. “Of course I have stories to tell about racism, but I also have stories to tell about being overwhelmed by love, hospitality and acceptance.”

The murder of George Floyd in 2020 led to a “unlocking moment” for Canon Prior: “I realized that I was involved in what I began to call a conspiracy of silence.” I didn’t have the microphone and macroaggressions that you get as a black person.”

Initiatives such as the recent meeting of British Minoritised Ethnic/Global Majority Heritage (UKME/GMH) clergy in the province of Canterbury (News, September 9) had allowed people to feel visible for the first time, said Canon Prior, and really sad in a way.

“Such stories should be a thing of the past,” she said. But she also acknowledged that there is sometimes a tendency to “highlight the things that are not going right, rather than highlighting the things that are actually good.”

In Birmingham, it’s important to ask how churches could “look like the communities they serve,” she said, and not just in terms of ethnicity: “I want everyone to feel loved and to feel like that there is a place for him.” your local church of the Anglican Church.”

Canon Prior did not want to address the differences of opinion that exist in the Church about the process of “living in love and faith”. “I have a real obligation to love the person in front of me, and in fact love stories can change the narrative,” she said.

As a member of the General Synod, she previously voted against the introduction of blessings for same-sex couples and in favor of structural provision for those who reject the changes.

Asked about the current situation in the Church of England following the Makin Report last week by the Bishop of Rochester, Dr. Jonathan Gibbs, described as an “existential crisis”, said Canon Prior: “This is a uniquely challenging time for the church. . . And yet I am truly hopeful because the work of the gospel continues in local churches and that is always exciting to see.”

After her ordination in 2004, Canon Prior fulfilled her title at St John’s, Deptford, before becoming chaplain at Blackheath Bluecoat School and then at HM Prison Cookham Wood.

In 2011 she became team vicar of St John the Baptist, Cove, before moving to a church with the same dedication in Egham. She was made an honorary canon of Guildford Cathedral this year.

The Bishop of Birmingham, Dr. Michael Volland said Thursday that Canon Prior was “a person of living faith in Jesus Christ and comes to us with a broad and deep pastoral experience.”

He said he was “delighted” to announce her appointment and that “her gifts will be a great blessing to the people of Birmingham and the wider region.”