The people of the Church of St John, Muscat welcomed their new parish priest, the Reverend Dr Andrew Warmback, at a joyous service of induction and licensing led by Bishop Sean last night. Andrew and his wife, Alison, arrived in Oman the previous evening from South Africa, having served a two-month locum position at St John’s earlier this year. 

In his sermon, Bishop Sean reflected on Numbers 27:15-23, recognising that St John’s was moving “into a new place both spiritually and physically”. Fr Andrew, he said, had been “called and appointed to lead St John’s into this new place”, spiritually supporting a growing congregation after a period without a permanent priest, as well as moving forward with the physical building of a church—thanks to the gracious generosity of His Majesty Sultan Haitham, and the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.

Turning to the Gospel of Luke (22:24-27), Bishop Sean invited the congregation to recall that Jesus “established and embodied servant leadership at the Last Supper”, with the “powerful lesson that ministry—whether ordained or lay—is about serving God’s people rather than serving our own egos and agendas; about giving power rather than gathering power”.

He commended the council and congregation of St John’s for their steadfastness and hard work in a period of interregnum; and he thanked the priests of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf and others for their generous provision of locum service, as well as Pastor D. Mitchell Ford and the Protestant Church in Oman for their continued support.

The service was held at Good Shepherd Chapel, Ghala, where the congregation currently meets for weekly services—in a hall beautifully decorated for the service by parish councillors. 

Guests included Pastor Ford and executive director of Al Amana Centre the Reverend Justin Myers, both of whom brought warm messages of encouragement, alongside Rachel Renihan, chief of staff for the British Ambassador to Oman.

The congregation was grateful, too, to Canon Louise Bougourd from St Luke’s Anglican Church in Ras Al Khaimah, whose presence highlighted for the people of St John’s a wonderful sense of belonging within the wider Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.