Cynhadledd 2018 : Anerchaid Esgob Andy
Estyn allan a Charu’r Byd
Gwrandewch ar anerchiad Esgob Andy yn llawn
Gwyliwch anerchiad Esgob Andy yn llawn
‘Do, carodd Duw y byd gymaint, nid fel y gallai fod, ond fel y mae, fel Iddo roi Ei unig Fab. Os carodd Duw’r Byd gymaint, sut fedrwn ni ddatgan hynny’n haelionus trwy bethau newydd, Duwiol a chyfleu, fel Duw, ein bod ninnau hefyd yn caru’r Byd?’
Fel y rhan olaf o gyflwyniad i ddangos meysydd lle mae tir newydd yn cael ei dorri yn Esgobaeth Bangor, cyflwynodd Esgob Andy ei anerchiad i’r Gynhadledd Esgobaethol yn Neuad Pritchard-Jones ym Mhrifysgol Bangor ar ddydd Sadwrn (6.10.18).
Dechreuodd Esgob Andy gyda’i brofiad dros yr haf o gael ei ddal tu ôl i un o danceri dŵr cwmni adnabyddus o Orllewin Cymru a sut eu bod yn cludo dŵr o un ardal oedd â digon o ddŵr i ardal arall a oedd yn brin – dod â rhywbeth da i leoedd mewn angen.
Cafodd y gynhadledd eu hatgoffa gan Esgob Andy o arwyddair yr esgobaeth - Addoli Duw, tyfu’r Eglwys, caru’r Byd - gan bwysleisio penodiad arfaethedig rhai gweithwyr ieuenctid arloesol fel arwydd o’n hymrwymiad i dyfu’r eglwys, ond mai rŵan ydy’r amser i’r esgobaeth ystyried sut rydyn ni’n caru’r byd.
Rhoddodd anogaeth i bobl i gofio, pan fyddwn ni’n symud o’r mannau hynny lle rydyn ni’n gyfforddus, at gyrion bywyd yr eglwys, fe ddown i le sydd ddim bob amser mor gyfforddus inni. Yn aml iawn fe ganfyddwn fod Duw wedi cyrraedd yno o’n blaenau. Dywedodd bod hyn yn debyg iawn i’r genhadaeth rydyn ni’n clywed amdano yn Actau’r Apostolion, lle mae pobl oddi allan i’r eglwys yn ymateb i’r neges fywiol Iesu maen nhw’n ei glywed trwy’r apostolion.
Cyfeiriodd at enghraifft o’r banc bwyd sy’n weithredol ym Mro Enlli o Eglwys Sant Pedr, Pwllheli, a sut, cyn y Nadolig llynedd, y bu i’r banc bwyd agor ei ddrysau i bobl gael dod a chasglu beth bynnag oedd ei angen arnyn nhw – disgrifiodd Esgob Andy hyn fel esiampl o garu’r byd yn ogystal ag efengylu (gweler Mathew 25).
‘Fe wydden ni nad Eglwys Dduw sydd â chenhadaeth, ond yn hytrach fod gan Dduw cenhadaeth, Eglwys, a’i fod yn ein gwahodd i’r diriogaeth eang, beryglus, wyllt honno o fyw ar y cyrion a chanfod sut mae modd i ninnau fod yn genhadon y Newyddion Da.’
Fel modd o ddechrau’r broses o garu’r byd, awgrymodd Esgob Andy dri maes sydd angen eu datblygu:
- Adeiladu haelioni ac ymwybyddiaeth – Dywedodd y bydd Cwrs Grawys Taleithiol y flwyddyn nesaf yn gymorth inni wneud hyn. Mae’n gwrs sy’n ein gwahodd i weld sut mae modd inni fod yn haelionus i’n byd, fel yr oedd Duw’n haelionus yn rhoi inni Iesu. Mae’n gwrs a ddylai ein galluogi i ymateb a bod â ffocws allanol fel canlyniad i ddilyn y cwrs, ffocws i’n galluogi i fynegi Teyrnas Dduw i bobl ar y cyrion.
- Cynllunio, Partneru, Ysbrydoli – cyhoeddodd Esgob Andy y byddai’r Archddiacon Andy Herrick yn cadeirio grŵp sy’n casglu ynghyd pobl sy’n ymwneud â Fairtrade, ein hesgobaethau cyswllt ac eraill i weld sut fase modd inni ddatblygu a gwella ein cariad tuag at y byd. Nododd enghreifftiau o gaethwasiaeth fodern, sut mae’r esgobaeth wedi cefnogi lletya teulu o ffoaduriaid o Syria a sgandal y nifer o blant sy’n byw mewn tlodi.
Cyhoeddodd bod Esgobaeth Bangor wedi cytuno i fod yn eco-esgobaeth, ac y cynhelir adolygiad o’r ffordd rydyn ni’n ailddefnyddio, ailgylchu a lleihau ein dibyniaeth ar adnoddau’r Byd, gan ein bod wedi ymrwymo i fyd Duw. Bydd hyn yn digwydd ar lefel ganolog a lleol. Bydd gofyn i Ardaloedd Gweinidogaeth ymrwymo i ddod yn Ardal eco-Weinidogaeth wrth gynllunio. Fe roddodd her hefyd i ddwy Ardal Weinidogaeth i gysylltu â fo i weld sut fyddai modd lleihau’n llwyr eu dibyniaeth ar blastig a dod yn ‘ddi-blastig’, yn dilyn ymlaen o’r gyfres ‘Blue Planet 2’. Byddai llwyddo yn hyn o beth yn golygu bod Ardal Weinidogaeth yn dangos i’w chymuned leol ei chariad tuag at y byd.
- Caru’r byd ar lefel leol– tynnodd Esgob Andy sylw at y newidiadau ar y Stryd Fawr dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf a’r effaith andwyol twf y cwmnïau rhyngwladol enfawr. Meddyliodd sut fasen ni’n medru ailymrwymo i ystyried ein busnesau lleol o ddifrif. Cyfeiriodd at sylwadau diweddar Archesgob Caergaint ynglŷn ag Amazon, er enghraifft. Rhoddodd esiampl diweddar siop elusen Bro Enlli ym Mhwllheli, gan herio pobl i ystyried beth allen ni ei wneud i greu bywyd yn lleol unwaith eto.
‘Sut mae modd adleoleiddio bywyd, fel nad ydyn ni’n cael ein dominyddu gan yr uwchgwmnïau hyn, y sefydliadau anweledig, dienaid hyn sydd â dim oll i’w roi i’n cymunedau, ond yn hytrach yn rheibio a’n gadael yn dlotach o’r herwydd. Sut fyddai hi yn eich ardal weinidogaeth petai cwmnïau cydweithredol, cynlluniau newydd i ymgysylltu, yn cael eu gwireddu fel bod cymuned yn dod yn fwy agos-atoch ac wyneb cyfarwydd iddi unwaith eto?’
Cyflwynodd Esgob Andy y cwestiynau canlynol i’r gynhadledd eu hystyried:
- Sut mae adeiladu ymwybyddiaeth a haelioni yn ein Hardal Weinidogaeth?
- Beth fyddai’n ei gymryd i ni fod yn wirioneddol eco fel esgobaeth? Ai her i chi ydy hon?
- Beth fydd eich Cynllun Datblygu Cenhadaeth yn ei gynnwys i ddangos eich bod yn caru’r byd?
Wrth annog yr esgobaeth yn ei gweinidogaeth i garu’r byd, daeth Esgob Andy â’i anerchiad i ben trwy ofyn i bobl fyfyrio ar Ioan 3:16 ac i gofio ystyr llawn rhan gyntaf yr adnod honno, ‘Do, carodd Duw’r byd gymaint …’
‘Do, carodd Duw’r byd gymaint, nid fel y gallai fod, ond fel y mae, fel Iddo roi Ei unig Fab. Os carodd Duw’r Byd gymaint, sut fedrwn ni ddatgan hynny’n haelionus trwy bethau newydd, Duwiol a chyfleu, fel Duw, ein bod ninnau hefyd yn caru’r Byd?
Conference 2018 : Bishop Andy's Address
Reach out and Love the World
Listen to Bishop Andy’s address in full
Watch Bishop Andy’s address in full
‘God so loved the world, not as it might be, but as it as, that He gave His only begotten Son. If God loved the World so much, how do we issue that with new generous, Godly, things and demonstrate, like God, that we, too, love the World?’
As the concluding part of a presentation which demonstrated areas where new ground is being broken in the Diocese of Bangor, Bishop Andy delivered his address to the Diocesan Conference at Bangor University’s Pritchard-Jones Hall on Saturday (6.10.18)
Bishop Andy started with his experience over the summer of being stuck behind a set of water-tanker lorries (owned by a well known West Wales company!) and how they were carrying water from an area that had plenty of water to an area that had little - bringing something good to places in need.
Bishop Andy reminded the conference of our diocesan motto - Worshipping God, growing the Church, loving the world - and highlighted the potential appointment of some pioneer youth workers as a means of our commitment to growing the church, but now was the time for the diocese to consider how we love the world.
He encouraged people to remember that when we move away from the places where we are comfortable, to the margins of church life, we come to a place that is not always comfortable for us. Very often we can find that God has got there before us. He said that this was very similar to the mission we learn about in the Acts of the Apostles, where people outside of the church respond to the life-giving message of Jesus which they hear from the apostles.
He referred to the example of the foodbank which is run in Bro Enlli from St. Peter’s Church, Pwllheli, and how, just before last Christmas the foodbank opened its doors for people to come and collect whatever they needed - and BIshop Andy described this as an example of loving the world as well as evangelism (see Matthew 25)
‘We know that it’s not the Church of God that has a mission, but the God of mission has a Church and He invites us into that expansive, dangerous, wild territory of living on the margins and finding out how we can be bearers of Good News.’
As a means of beginning the process to love the world, Bishop Andy suggested three areas that needed to be developed.
- Building generosity and awareness - He said that next year’s Provincial Lent Course will help us to do this. It is a course which invites us to see how we can be generous to our world, just as God was generous in giving Jesus. It is a course which should enable us to respond and have an outward focus as a consequence of following the course, a focus which enables us to express the Kingdom of God to people on the margins.
- Plan, Partner, Inspire - Bishop Andy announced that the Archdeacon Andy Herrick would be chairing a group which brings together people involved in Fairtrade, our link dioceses and others to see how we can develop and improve our love of the world. He highlighted instances of modern slavery, how the diocese has supported the housing of a refugee family from Syria and the scandal of the number of children living in poverty.
He announced that the Diocese of Bangor has signed up to be an eco-diocese, and that there would be a review of how we reuse, recycle and reduce our dependence on the World’s resources, because we are committed to God’s world. This will happen at a central and local level. Ministry Areas will need to commit to becoming an eco-Ministry Area in their planning. He also challenged two Ministry Areas to contact him to see how they could totally reduce their dependence on plastic and become ‘plastic-free’, following on from the ‘Blue Planet 2’ series. To succeed in this will mean that a Ministry Area is demonstrating to its local community its love for the world. - Loving the world at a local level - Bishop Andy drew attention to the changes on the High Street in recent years and the detrimental effect of the growth of international giant companies. He wondered how we recommit to taking our local businesses seriously. He referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent comments about Amazon, as an example. He gave the recent example of Bro Enlli’s charity shop in Pwllheli, challenging people to consider what we can do to make life local again.
‘How can you relocalize a life, so that we don’t become dominated by these conglomerates, these faceless organisations which have nothing to give to our communities, but rather strip away and leave us all the poorer for it. What would it look like in your ministry area if cooperatives, new schemes of engagement, could all come to pass so that a community becomes a little more humane and once again has a human face?’
Bishop Andy offered the conference the following questions to consider:
- How do we build awareness and generosity in our Ministry Area?
- What would it take for us to become truly eco as a diocese? Is that a challenge you’d like to rise to?
- What will your Mission Development Plan include to demonstrate loving the world?
In encouraging the diocese in it’s ministry to love the world, Bishop Andy concluded his address by asking people to reflect on John 3:16 and to remember the full meaning of the first part of that verse, ‘God so loved the world ….’
‘God so loved the world, not as it might be, but as it as, that He gave His only begotten Son. If God loved the World so much, how do we issue that with new generous, Godly, things and demonstrate, like God, that we, too, love the World?
