For a little escapist fun, we (that’s the royal we) have been doing a little reading on England in the 16th century. It’s about as far away from reading about podcasting and new media as we can possibly get, and occasionally that is a good brief distraction for us. With the birth of the Church of England fresh on our minds, this story caught our attention:

Right Reverend Nigel Stock, the Church of England’s new bishop in Suffolk, has announced that he will create podcasts to introduce himself to his diocese. The 10th Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich will be confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury next month.

Bishop Stock launched the weekly podcast, starting Tuesday 23 October, and will continue them for over the next month, until his confirmation. If the podcasts are a big hit with parishioners, they may continue after that.

A spokesman for the diocese has said that the podcasts are a way for the bishop to introduce himself to the diocese before parishioners get the opportunity to meet him in person, and will give insight into his life and philosophy, the BBC reports.

In his first podcast, Bishop Stock says: “Nobody wants someone coming in to tell them what to do before they have begun to understand what a place is like and how it ticks. So I think my first mission is to look, to listen, to learn, to take onboard what is characteristic about this diocese.”

Via ChristianToday.com