In his annual Easter Sunday sermon, the Bishop of Truro, The Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen will call on people to not seek to return to the old ‘normal’ but to seek resurrection into a new way of being.

The bishop’s sermon, which he will be giving at Truro Cathedral on Easter Sunday morning, speaks to the position we all find ourselves in as we begin to see the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and points out that ‘Resurrection is not going back to what was before, but a going forward to what is new’.

“We need that resurrection power in the way we live together, in society, both locally and globally; we need that power in the life of the Church; and we need that power too in the life of each one of us.

“How might we see the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in the way we live together, both locally and globally? A key question for us is what life after the pandemic will be like. And I want to say with all my heart that I do not believe we must talk about things going back to normal. It was not normal that we were living unsustainably on this earth, feeding climate change, pursuing ever greater economic growth, as if the earth’s resources were inexhaustible and expendable.

“Nor is it normal that in the world today power and wealth lie in the hands of an increasing few; that the rule of law is so often flouted; that strong men (and they are all men) flex their muscles with impunity; that so many minorities are under threat; that religious freedom is so often denied. None of that is normal and nor should we accept it as such.

“Think back to last spring – even in the midst of the pandemic we saw nature stepping back into its proper place and the world burst into life around us. The pandemic humbled us and brought us up short. We were taught to sit still and step back. It’s a key lesson for all humanity. We must learn to live more lightly and lovingly on this earth. And to do so would be a true sign of resurrection life. And it is resurrection we need: going forward to something better; not resuscitation that takes us back to where we were before.”

To read the full sermon, click here.