God Made You to be You

The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, has launched a social media campaign, which has received international press coverage, promoting the message that who you are is more than how you look.

The #liedentity campaign was launched with pupils from All Saints' Academy in Cheltenham, who discussed the pressure on modern youth to ‘be perfect’ with the Bishop,

Bishop Rachel said, “So many young people today are sourcing their identities from social media and advertising and in the process losing their self-esteem, which is one of the reasons why our campaign is called #liedentity.

“So much of what they experience through social media presents a message of value based on physical appearance. I long for every young person to discover their worth as a unique individual created in the image of God and to find happiness as they go on becoming who they have been created to be.

“We need to start thinking about the messages we give out to others and how what we say, can shape how people see themselves. When we compliment others how often do we link it to physical appearance? For example, our opening comment in a conversation with a young girl is often about how pretty she looks.”

As part of the #liedentity campaign young people were asked if there was anything that they didn’t like about their bodies. A portrait picture was taken and a part of their body they wanted to change was removed using photo editing software.

Bishop Rachel said. “The pictures are quite stark, but remind us that being Photoshopped does not create a realistic image. I want people to feel happy inside out and delight in their whole self.”

A video of Bishop Rachel’s visit to All Saints’ Academy can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/wath?v=TZFSvNY9t1I 

The young people taked about how they feel about themselves and what they perceive as ‘perfect’.

The campaign has received press coverage as far away as South Africa (read here) and Bishop Rachel was interviewed at length on the campaign in last week’s Sunday Telegraph (read here).