Bishop Robert reflects on the celebrations with ICS this week:

"I was delighted to take part on June 27th in a 200th anniversary celebrated by our link mission agency ICS at St. Paul’s Onslow Square in Kensington.

ICS traces its origins back to 1823. Samuel Codner, a businessman and ship’s captain, founded an evangelistic agency to work amongst poor people employed in the fishing industry in Newfoundland. Since those days, the agency has changed its name and its field of activity several times. But throughout its history, it has retained an emphasis on sharing the gospel and on the vocation and involvement of lay people. ICS works mainly in Europe, but also has associations with several chaplaincies on other continents. As a diocese, we benefit from ICS’s work in finding and nominating new chaplains and in running a much valued annual chaplains and families conference.

The birthday celebration at St. Paul’s was a grand occasion with many past and present luminaries attending and an introductory video greeting from the Archbishop of Canterbury – who was, of course, once a member of ICS Chaplaincy St. Michael’s Paris. I was honoured to be invited to give an address and to cut the birthday cake.

The challenge to the society is to discern the nature of its particular mission today. Meanwhile, as part of its 200th birthday celebrations ICS has promised to donate £200,000 to new mission work in Diocese in Europe chaplaincies. We are very grateful for this generous offer. We look forward to continuing to deepen our partnership with Richard Bromley and our friends at ICS in the years to come."