Dear friends,
As we continue through November we continue to be drawn along by the theme of remembrance. Over the past two weeks we have had opportunities to remember all sorts of people, some of whom we knew and loved, others whose lives and actions continue to impact our own futures. Remembrance is a bitter sweet activity, particularly for those of us with faith in Jesus and his power over death. Often, we feel caught between a place of sadness and hope. We miss those we love and yet we trust our loving God to bring restoration where there is currently brokenness and pain.
The details of the Makin Report into the abuse by John Smyth and news of Archbishop Justin’s resignation will impact all of us in different ways. First and foremost we must think of the victims and survivors of John Smyths abuse, honouring their courage to speak up and praying for them at this me. Equally, many of us will have personal experience of abuse in our own lives and the pain from this may be brought to the surface by the news and stories. We have issued a further statement about both the report and our response to it, please hear us when we say that we will listen and take all concerns seriously in line with our safeguarding policy.
For all of us the reports and headlines will cause a level of distrust in us towards the church and perhaps God as our assumptions about its safety and goodness are called into question. Many of us will be shocked by the news that those high up in our structures knew of the abuse and some will feel it more acutely given Archbishop Justin’s visit to St Martin’s in 2014. I hope and pray that your feelings towards the Church of England as an institution do not make it too difficult for you to continue to gather with us in your local parish church, a community of loving and welcoming people. As we detail in our statement, we are committed to rigorous safeguarding procedures for all our activities at St Martin’s, especially our work with children and young people. If you have any questions or concerns around this, please do contact myself or our safeguarding officer, Jan Coombes. Equally, our pastoral care team, coordinated by our church warden, Becky Wearne, are here if you feel you need someone to chat to.
In the midst of what is probably a challenging time for many of us, we will continue to gather to celebrate and to remember. This Sunday we remember our patron saint, Martin, as Simon Taylor helps us to reflect on what it means to take inspiration from his life. We will stay after the 10:30 service for a bring and share lunch, thank you in advance to everyone who is contributing to this but please join us even if you aren’t able to bring something!
As I sit in my study today, feeling the wrongness of all that is present in our world today I struggle to find words to pray. I know that God is good and compassionate, full of both justice and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness and yet, we do not always feel those things. We look at lives ruined by greed, abuse and sin and we wonder how the God I just described could be anything to do with this. I’m sorry if you want an answer to that question, there are things that could be said, but today I do not feel able to say them. Instead, as I said yesterday in Pause and Pray, there are times when all we can do is light a candle and hope. When our silence can be our prayer and we must find ways to trust God along with our doubt and uncertainty. I never advocate blind faith, instead I believe we should allow room for doubt to be part of our faith. For me faith is being honest about how we think and feel and trusting that whether we believe in Jesus or not, he believes in us.
It would be lovely to see you at either our 8:30 or 10:30 Holy Communion service on Sunday, know that you are invited and welcome, regardless of your beliefs, your levels of faith and doubt and regardless of your levels of joy or sorrow. St Martin’s is a place for all of that to come together in loving community.
Grace & peace,
Phil