The people of St Andrew Abu Dhabi came together to welcome new confirmands in a Pentecost Sunday service marked by “a deep sense of the presence of God’s Spirit with the congregation”, said Bishop Sean.  

“Perhaps the most obvious and wonderful sign of the Holy Spirit are our 14 Confirmation candidates. It is the Holy Spirit who has brought each of you to this very moment, by giving you the desire to make your own personal decision to follow Christ.”

Bishop Sean’s sermon reflected also on seeing the Holy Spirit “at work in the Christians of the region, through the resilience they have demonstrated during the very difficult time we are living through”.

In March and April Bishop Sean undertook solidarity tours of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and the Arabian Peninsula, and will be in Kuwait next week.

“I found it extremely important to be with the people of the diocese in the Gulf during the recent war, he said, “to experience something of what you were experiencing, and to offer what comfort and encouragement I could.”

As St Andrew’s prepares to bid farewell to Fr David and Mercy in a few weeks’ time, Bishop Sean welcomed Fr Nelson Fernandez, who was at the service and will serve for three months as locum priest in Abu Dhabi.

“I pray that the Holy Spirit, the life-giver, will renew and bless St Andrew’s,” said Bishop Sean, “so that we, like the first disciples, might have the courage and conviction to faithfully follow Jesus and live out his great commission. Amen.”