Almighty God, who didst call thy faithful servants John Coleridge Patteson and his companions to be witnesses and martyrs in the islands of Melanesia, and by their labors and sufferings didst raise up a people for thine own possession: Pour forth thy Holy Spirit upon thy Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many, thy holy Name may be glorified and thy kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
I’m quite excited to read Coleridge Patteson being remembered. My family is from the same part of Devon as the Coleridge family, and the diocese maintains strong links with the Church of Melanesia. Missionaries from the islands – primarily from a group called the Melanesian Brotherhood – now come to England to evangelize. Wonderful!
The effects of Bishop Patteson life and death are still very much with us.