The steam train which travelled through our Diocese from Whitehead via our Capital City and our Cathedral Town to Coleraine was called "the Connor Pilgrim". On board were Connor Pilgrims journeying. Awaiting us here were Connor Pilgrims who had arrived by other means.

Pilgrims are people travelling into a future life with eyes focused on Christ - whose we are and whom we serve. We may not know for certain the way we are going, but we do know that we are travelling with Christ and we know we are about God's business.

As we travel we are in contact with all sorts of people - each one is a child of God, created by Him and loved by Him. Each one Christ gave his life for, that they might be "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven". Some are aware of this, some are not and some don't care. But those of us who do appreciate all that God does for us in Christ respond positively, and so we become not only God's children, but God's people, seeking fresh faith and vision and willing to walk with Christ our Saviour wherever He may lead us in His Service.

This knowledge that we are God's people should lead us from the static to the active, from being mere hearers of the Word to being doers of the Word; people who are ready to reach out to discover the breadth, length, height, depth of Christ's presence power and influence. Our Generation Day is to encourage us to catch again this all enveloping vision of Christ and to generate new faith and prayer and service.

The word "generation" appeals to me - it suggest generating electric power which is then spread far and wide by cables and wires to provide light and power where it is needed. See the Diocese as the co-ordinator of a network of spiritual generators - the Parishes being the Power Stations with their people praying, serving, obedient to their Lord.

You will know that electricity is a resource already in the atmosphere -the generators collect it and send it out. The risen Christ with His life and love, His saving Cross and His Word of God is our powerful resource. We draw on Him in our Parish prayers and worship and then we become the wires and cables reaching out with His saving energy wherever we go and in whatever we do for Him.

This is already in place - our Churches and Halls are there, we are there and Christ is in our midst. But lines of communication need to be kept open. We have to be the channels of his peace and grace and love. We most not blow a fuse and so cut ourselves off from our resource in Christ or from the people he wants to empower.

Old worn out wiring needs renewal. We, Christ's pilgrim people generating new power in His Church for Him, need to be renewed in faith and vision and in training. And we need to know where we are going.

We require goals as well as vision. We yearn to see growth in our Churches. But how? Where?

It requires a ministry team which includes all willing hands - full time clergy, auxiliaries, lay readers, churchwardens, members of Select Vestries, Mothers' Unions, Men's Societies, Youth Fellowships, youth leaders, Sunday School teachers, prayer partners, Parish visitors, people helping to open up the Church to the community and the community to the Church. Every cable is a link to those whom Christ seeks to reach and nurture, but how often have you been told that you are part of ministry and yet wondered what your role is, and what use is actually being made of the talents and gifts you are offering? What training you need? What retraining would help?

It is good to have a vision for ministry and mission, but to see where we fit in we need goals to focus upon. More than that, we need achievable goals.

Such achievable goals are set out for you in the Connor Brochure. They will take time to be brought to life. They cover investing in our youth, in those who are retired, in our families, in our clergy and lay readers, in communication and training.

We realise that each group is best suited to influence its own peers - youth, family, retired and those in the work place.

We recognise that training courses are needed in expertise, in prayer, in listening, in learning the faith and in telling - these are needed for clergy and laity, youth workers and parish volunteers. These are the achievable goals we would like to generate in ministry and mission.

One of our difficulties is that we can all feel overloaded. We are like individual power lines forced to carry too much of a load on our own, so we blow a fuse. I am fascinated by electricity sub-stations. The great power cables homing in on them, pouring in the power - and then the wires folded in, drawing on that power reduced to their capacity and then spreading out to where the load must be carried. Too often in the past we have been fragmented, each one living and working on their personal faith. We have been lights for Christ - but "you in your small corner and I in mine".

My plea is that we have a vision of "all for one and one for all". We need to be together as a team in parish and Diocese and, in fellowship together, serve the Lord trained and prepared, ready to try new ideas to see if they will work. Then I want the Diocese to be seen as a co-ordinator of resources. If one parish is weak in generation because of circumstances beyond its control, then all the parishes generating strongly should step in to support it. The strong should help the weak and the weak should add strength to the strong. That is how the national grid works. Every light is important where it is situated, but a singe light cannot light up the whole scene for Christ without other lights.

Let us therefore today pledge ourselves to pull together - to be willing to help one another in the Lord's generation. St. Paul in the third reading welcomed difference -that there are varieties of people, varieties of gifts, varieties of ministry, varieties of worship, varieties of prayers and varieties of service. Let's acknowledge (as St. Paul did) other people's varieties. We are all serving the Lord. We have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who rules over all, works through all and is present in all. This is the only realistic way to go for growth and to build for generations to come.

Hand in hand with growth has to be investment. Investment in people, investment in projects, investment in Christ. Investment costs money - new money which is why our strategy requires a new fund in Connor to help us with this extra load outside the needs of Parishes and Church. Please prayerfully consider how and in what ways you can help your Diocese and Church generate new life for Christ - not on your own, but all for one and one for all.