Bishop Lusa's visit

We were honoured to welcome Bishop Lusa to our school, following our Easter Service! Our Worship Ambassadors interviewed him about his role, before a guided tour of the school.

Our Worship Ambassadors are Aanaya, Amber Rose, Caitlin, Connie, Emily, Jarrod, Nancy, Olivia, Reem and Thomas. Their report is below:

Bishop Lusa was brought up in a Christian family and was taught about love.  He read The Bible as a teenager and his faith became more important to him. At first, he wanted to be a lawyer but as he started working in churches, some people told him that he should be a priest.

Bishop Lusa lived in Belgium and studied Theology in Brussels for five years.  He then came to England and studied for another year. He was ordained in 2008 and became a priest in 2009.

At first, Bishop Lusa did not think that being a priest would be the path he would choose, but this changed as he spent more and more time serving the church. He wanted to use his gifts to help people who know and love Jesus and to serve God, both inside and outside the church.

During his teenage years, Bishop Lusa was inspired to be a priest by Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, who made him believe that anybody can become a Christian, no matter what race they are.  He was also inspired by Dr Rowan Williams after attending a meeting alongside him and learning how generous he was.  Bishop Lusa was also inspired by Olivier, a Catholic priest, when he was living in Belgium.

Bishop Lusa never imagined that he would become a bishop.  About five years ago, he thought that it was time to stop being a priest.  However, he saw that God was working through other people to send him a message to become a bishop and God opened up that path for him.  He feels he is exactly where he is supposed to be because the role is teaching him about himself.

Bishop Lusa’s father became a minister, after having been a headteacher at a high school. When he told his parents he wanted to be a priest, they were very encouraging but wanted him to be sure.

Before becoming a bishop, Bishop Lusa was an RE teacher. He also worked at a French church and at Canterbury Cathedral. Bishop Lusa then worked as a researcher in African development.

In his role as a bishop, Bishop Lusa is mostly involved in taking services and supporting parish priests.  He has helped positive relationships in communities and takes part in decision making.  He spreads the word about the love of Jesus and works alongside other priests. 

Bishop Lusa loves spending time in schools, talking to students and teachers. He finds it very inspiring and reminds him that children need good opportunities.  It also reminds him that adults “are borrowing the future” and that they need to do a good job for children.

Bishop Lusa feels that being a bishop makes his life fuller and is more defined by other people’s needs.  There is a lot of expectation but people make life easier for him and he gets invited to more things!  His diary is packed and being so busy feeds his soul and fills his heart with joy.

Being Bishop of Willesden means that Bishop Lusa works with about 95 churches, in the London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Harrow.

Bishop Lusa has been supported by people who knew about errors.  He likes talking, listening and praying with people who have made mistakes, giving them absolution and leading them to a better life.  He lets them know that God forgives them and that their life can be better

When people disagree, Bishop Lusa does not feel that the disagreement is the issue, but argument is.  He listens to the other person’s point of view and understands what it means to them. Putting himself in people’s shoes helps him to disagree in an agreeable way.  Sometimes he does disagree with people’s opinions so he disagrees politely and can see what they mean.  His message is that we should always be kind and generous and listen to other’s points of view. 

Bishop Lusa’s dream, if he was not a bishop, would be to buy a little plot of land and have a farm.  He would build some houses and a community for people to reconnect with themselves or rebuild a relationship with somebody else. 

Bishop Lusa feels the hardest part of being a priest is putting expectations on yourself and not being realistic.  Also, people sometimes think that a priest will not get things wrong.  It is hard when someone goes to a priest and the priest feels that they do not know the answer, which makes them feel powerless. 

Bishop Lusa’s favourite Bible verses are Philippians chapter 3 verse 10 and Psalm 91.  The saddest is John chapter 11 verse 35, Jesus wept.

Bishop Lusa’s favourite part of being a priest is spending time with people and helping them to see the love of God themselves.

Bishop Lusa explained that different churches have different traditions about taking the bread or wine only.  Some people have allergies so they need to have one only. 

Bishop Lusa visited every class, spreading joy and encouragement along the way. He gave every Worship Ambassador a handheld cross to pray with, and had lunch with the staff. It was a truly special day for our school community.