'I am here to learn from the people who live here and help to serve these communities': New Bishop of Worcester excited to begin work around churches across Sandwell, Dudley and Wyre Forest

Rt. Rev. Hugh Nelson officially became the 114th Bishop of Worcester at a service of welcome and installation ceremony at Worcester Cathedral on Saturday (Jan 17).

The Bishop, who succeeds Rt. Rev John Inge following his retirement in October 2024, has most recently been the Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro, a position he has held since 2020, serving as the Acting Bishop of Truro from Sept 2023 until May last year. 

He has also been Bishop to the Armed Forces, providing spiritual and pastoral leadership to Anglican Chaplains serving in the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, a role which he will continue to hold as Bishop of Worcester.

As he makes the move from Cornwall up to the West Midlands, the bishop said he had been adjusting to the change in areas and getting used to the wide area of the Diocese of Worcester, which covers Dudley, Sandwell and Wyre Forest.

He said: "I've been in a kind of strange situation of leaving one thing and getting ready to go into a new role so I'm in an in-between time period.

"The change for me has been through starting to get to know new people, a new place and a new area, including its culture, the communities and their needs and the opportunities and challenges that people face.

"I'm just in the very early stages of getting to know what's going on in the diocese and the towns around the area.

The bishop also spoke about the voyage of discovery for himself moving into the area, speaking of how people are both the same, but also very different, and how he couldn't wait to hear their stories.

He said: "I guess what I've discovered over the years, as I've moved around a bit, is that, on one hand, people are the same wherever you go as we all need the same things, we need communities to belong to, people to love, people who love us and we need a purpose in life and some beauty.

"We also need people to say sorry to and for them to say that it's alright and we can start again, and people are also different and, in different places, communities are different and their stories, history, traditions and culture are different.

"I think I'm pretty confident what I'll find is people who are kind of the same as everyone else and people who have got their own particular stories and needs and opportunities, so I can't wait to get started."

Bishop Nelson was announced as the next Bishop of Worcester by young people at a ‘Lightbox’ event at St Helen’s Church in Worcester in July last year and said at the time he didn't want to just come in and make instant changes among the more than 200 churches in the diocese.

As he prepares to officially become bishop, he reiterated that he wanted to work along the churches and hear about challenges and opportunities.

He said: "They know what they do and they don't need me to turn up and say 'don't worry folks, start all over again because I'm here'.

"They've got good plans and have been around for a long time, so my job is to get to know people, hear what the challenges are, discover what the opportunities are and to help those churches to become places of hope, as it's not a very hopeful world at the moment.

"I want our churches to be places that point to God and say that he's the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and is always there and is not about to leave us, so we can get on with loving our neighbours, serving our communities and just being churches."

The bishop said he was very well-aware of the work his predecessor had done in the role and also praised the current acting Bishop of Worcester, current Bishop of Dudley and his good friend Rt. Rev. Martin Gorick, saying that he was looking forward to working alongside him and learning more about the area.

The first weekend as Bishop of Worcester will see Bishop Nelson visiting churches in the diocese, with a service at Top Church in Dudley on Sunday, then he will spend Monday visiting schools and speaking to young people about their challenges.

He said it would energising to spend time talking to the children, saying you only need two minutes with them to feel their energy and excitement, and spoke about the challenges ahead for the diocese and for himself in the new role.

He said: "I think, like the rest of society, we face lots of the same challenges, such as around money and staying hopeful, when things look quite difficult and when choices have to be made and the world feels quite dangerous.

"I think the biggest challenge for the diocese is to carry on being hopeful, carry on saying there is a God and he's good and still with us and not leaving us and we can get on with loving God.

"For me, I'm starting something new, so you'd have to be mad if you weren't a bit nervous and I know I've got so much to figure out, so much to learn, so many people to meet and to get a lot of wisdom from other people to absorb that I need hear from as I don't want to get it wrong.

"I want to be a good bishop so, of course, I am a bit nervous about that, but I know God is good and I'm not on my own as there are great people around and the church has been doing what it's been doing for a long time.

"A bishop is here to to be a leader and a servant and so, yes, I have to lead and have to make decisions and do the things that leaders do, but I am fundamentally here to be one as someone who serves and asks what he can do to help and what people need, which is what I think a good leader does."