00:00Hello, I'm Maura Astin and I'm the Bishop Designate for Crediton.
00:05I'm really looking forward to moving here, which I'll be doing in late June,
00:10and being consecrated on the 3rd of July.
00:14Devon is such a beautiful place and yet, as all places, it has its own challenges.
00:20As I've been driving around in the last week,
00:23I've seen signs about trying to get rid of the family farm tax.
00:27I've visited Ilfracombe and seen some of the challenges of a seaside town,
00:34some of the poverty that we have there.
00:37The church is rightly at the heart of this, providing support,
00:44being there for people in the tough times,
00:47and most of all speaking of the love of God,
00:50that even when life is difficult, God is still there and still caring.
00:55When I'm not busy going around looking after the churches in my current role as an archdeacon,
01:04I enjoy going and seeing seabirds and, to be honest, puffins.
01:09I really love puffins.
01:11Perhaps it's because they're short and stout, but colourful,
01:15and when they fly, they flap a lot.
01:17And I try not to do that too much myself.
01:21Once I've taken those pictures, I enjoy coming back and painting from my own pictures.
01:27But also, I enjoy seeing the coast and all its different moods.
01:33And so, as well as coming alongside the people here,
01:36I'm excited to be in such a beautiful area
01:38and to be involved with the churches on both coasts of Devon
01:43and all the countryside and the towns in between.
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