wfn.org | ACNS3261 New Bishop for Popondota

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3261     |     PAPUA NEW GUINEA	 |     16 JANUARY 2003

New Bishop for Popondota

Fr Roger Jupp was born in London in 1956 and was brought up in Blackheath.
He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys' Grammar School
1968-1974 and then read Theology at St Edmund Hall, Oxford 1975-1978. The
following year he worked as a Nursing Auxiliary at St Christopher's Hospice
for the terminally ill in SE London before going to train for the priesthood
at Chichester Theological College. It was there that he first became aware
of the life of the Anglican Church in Papua New Guinea through the annual
commemoration of Father Vivian Redlich, one of the New Guinera Martyrs, who
was trained at the seminary in the 1930s.

Ordained deacon in 1980 and priest in 1981, Fr Roger served curacies in
Chesterfield in Derbyshire, Oxford and London. His association with the
diocese of Chichester began in 1986 when he was appointed Chaplain to the
Area Bishop of Horsham, Bishop Colin Docker. He also held a number of
parochial appointments in the diocese. It was whilst he was Vicar of St
John's, Burgess Hill that he first met Archbishop James Ayong who, as
Principal of Newton College, was beginning a year's sabbatical study at
Chichester Theological College, and had a taste of English parochial life
when he did a three-week locum in the mid-Sussex parish for Fr Roger. The
parish had also recently formed a link with the PNG Church Partnership and
this was further cemented by Fr James' visit with Mother Gawali and their
granddaughter, Clare. It was this first contact with Fr Roger that brought
about his appointment some years later as Principal of Newton College in
November 2000.

Fr Roger had left parish life and trained to be a teacher at St Mary's,
Strawberry Hill 1995-1996. Although he did return to the pastoral ministry
as curate of Aldwick, his appointment to Newton College meant that his
experience of teacher training had not been wasted. In fact, teaching at a
theological college and involvement in priestly formation had always been an
aspiration for him, so Archbishop James' offer meant the fulfilment of a
vocation as far as he was concerned.

Father Roger has had a continuing interest in ecumenism throughout his
ministry and has been a member of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed
Virgin Mary since the early 1980s. For a number of years he served on its
Council. He is a priest of the Society of the Holy Cross (SSC) and a member
of the Church Union and of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. Ever
since his days at Oxford, he has pursued an interest in 19th century Church
History. Unlike most members of his family, he is definitely not a sportsman
and prefers to exercise his mind through reading and listening to music. As
both his parents are dead, Fr Roger considers himself an orphan and is
grateful that a number of loving families in England have adopted him! He
has an older sister, Catherine, who is married and lives in Hertfordshire.
His surviving grandmother is 98!

His reaction on hearing the news that he had been elected Bishop of
Popondota on 31st December? "I wept," he said.

As he prepares to take up his responsibilities, Fr Roger has listed the
following as priorities for his ministry: to listen and to learn; the
support of the clergy and the renewal of their ministry; the healing of
divisions in the diocese so as to build up peoples' confidence in the faith
and to make evangelism more effective; and a teaching ministry leading to
renewal in the Catholic faith and its full expression within a contemporary
and culturally rich liturgy.

As Fr Roger continues his furlough in England, he has asked for prayers both
for himself as he prepares for this new and challenging work to which the
Lord has called him, and for the people of the diocese of Popondota who look
to God for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they seek a renewed vision for
the future.

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