Over 1,200 people gathered at Victoria Park last Sunday for a service ending the Anglican Church's mission week.

"Essentially it's about teaching and encouraging people to be more faithful," explained Bishop Ewen Ratteray.

"This was something we felt we had a need for."

He explained that the last Mission week was held in the early 1960s. Bishop Sehon Goodridge, Bishop of the Windward Islands, and Anglican minister Angelo Wildgoose from the Bahamas came to Bermuda to assist with the Mission.

"This was, as it turned out, to be very much the right time. Bishop Sehon was very well received - people have responded to him personally."

He added that the turnout at Sunday's open air service, while impressive, could have been higher.

"But it was a very good experience."

And he indicated that it will not be another 40 years before another mission is held by the diocese.

"The possibility of something happening in two years time is pretty high - there's certainly a desire among some people to do this more often."

Bishop Sehon said : "I thought that something very exciting took place. I was particularly impressed by the way in which people came out of their parish settings and realized one diocesan family. People were learning about what is happening in other parishes."

And he said the church had to sustain its ministry among the youth. "The whole ministry within and among our youth is something which must be sustained - because they are there and members of parishes and dioceses and we must allow them to make their contributions. They are not just the future of the church, they are very much the present."

His message throughout the week was to remind the diocese that it is a mission and the church's purpose is to discover how God wants it to fulfil `His Mission' here. He also stressed the importance of unity and inclusion.

If the church is to effectively participate in reconciliation efforts "we ourselves must be reconciled", he said.

"It's very important to sustain our unity, which does not mean uniformity but an appreciation of a rich diversity of gifts and functions. In this regard we must rejoice in the diversity of the church's unity. Anything of the past we must leave behind."

The diocese had achieved a "sense of renewal" during Mission Week", continued Bishop Sehon. "And a sense of going places together. That's the only way we are going to do it."