Tags
Church of Pakistan; Diocese of Lahore; Diocese of Sialkot; Bishop Alexander Malik; Bishop Irfan Jamil; Catherine Nicol; Susan Clark, Churchn of Pakistan;
Last week I was at various ceremonies and events marking the retiral of Rt Rev Alexander Malik and the enthronement of his successor as Bishop of Lahore, Rt Rev Irfan Jamil. Bishop Alexander’s episcopacy of 32 years is longest ever for a Bishop of Lahore and the achievements in the growth and the financial and organisational sustainability are a fine testament to his time in office. He has become a well known advocate and ambassador for the Church of Pakistan and the Pakistan Christian community, ably supported by his wife Shamim. I have known Bishop Alexander for a number of years and have enjoyed working with him, even when, or perhaps especially when, he challenged partner churches in their thinking and attitudes.
Bishop Irfan was elected as Coadjutor Bishop in December 2010 and consecrated in February 2011 so ensuring a smooth succession of leadership. I have also known Irfan for a long time and I look forward to working with him in his new role. As well as being a fine pastor and churchman, Bishop Irfan is a big cricket fan and a master of the Scrabble board.
In the past the time between the retiral of a bishop and the election of a successor has sometimes caused difficulties for the churches, undermining the witness and service of a church, especially if the vacancy is prolonged. The Bishop of Sialkot retired in August. Problems during his tenure meant that, unlike in Lahore, there were no receptions, farewell speeches and presentations from his diocese. The Bishop is now challenging his retiral so it seems that Sialkot, the historic centre of the Church of Scotland’s mission involvement in what is now Pakistan, will not enjoy the smooth transition as experienced in Lahore.
But there is more to the any church than its leaders, and partnership in mission is not just about problems. For me no visit to Pakistan would be complete without visiting Sialkot and seeing Catherine Nicol, former Church of Scotland mission partner, retired but still active in the care and nurture of nearly 300 girls and young women at St Columba Religious Training Centre. When bishops retire they hand over their management and diocesan responsibilities but they still hold the office the Bishop. Likewise, although Catherine retired in 2000 she quickly returned to resume her work and ministry in Sialkot. She was honoured by the Queen when she retired and received an OBE and a few weeks ago the Government of Pakistan announced she would be the recipient of the Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam (The Great Leader’s Medal) for her over 50 years of dedicated service in the field of education of girls and women. Few people are honoured by a government, it is much rarer to be honoured by two but no-one would deny that Catherine is one those rare individuals who fully deserves these awards.
I enjoyed being able to see Susan Clark a she settles in to her work with the Diocese of Raiwind where she works with the Women’s Development & Service Society. Susan also came Sialkot to take the opportunity to meet Catherine and to connect with the Church of Scotland’s mission history, which dates to 1857, as she begins her own time of service with our partner church working with poor and vulnerable women.
And that is a constant theme of the life of the church in Pakistan – serving and building up the poor and vulnerable. Amidst the pomp and ceremony at the Cathedral of the Resurrection there was constant reference to how the Diocese of Lahore was working with the poor, serving them through education and health ministries, standing up for their rights and building up the church. Catherine Nicol has worked with girls and women from poor families for five decades transforming their life prospects through education and Christian love and care while Susan Clark’s work with WDSS will include the rehabilitation of women rejected by their families and made destitute, some of them forced into commercial sex work through desperate poverty.
So we celebrate the achievements of Bishop Alexander Malik and Catherine Nicol and look forward to working with Bishop Irfan Jamil and hearing about Susan Clark’s work and ministry.