On the day I wrote this article, the stock markets were down 11% as the impact of what President Trump termed ‘Liberation Day’ took hold on the global economy. As of April 2, the United States has imposed global tariffs on countries exporting goods and services to America. Some countries have already responded to Trump’s move by imposing retaliatory tariffs on the cost to the United States of exporting their goods into those countries. Now, you might not follow the ups and downs of global stock markets and the twists and turns of the geo-politics, but part of the concern over these tariffs will be their effect on nearly all of us. The US President’s move affects pensions, the cost of car purchases, family savings and more. And the language applied to the advent of these significant and far-reaching tariffs is ‘Liberation Day’. The heavy burden imposed on countries and individuals by these tariffs starkly contrasts with Jesus’ message of salvation, liberation, and hope that we celebrate during the Easter season. Jesus took the full weight of human sin on himself on the cross and rose from the dead to offer us new life in Christ. Whereas President Trump’s tariffs lead to hopelessness and despair, the liberation Jesus offers us brings hope. However, as we take our confidence in the Good News of Jesus, we must reconcile what we believe in faith with the world as we experience it; that is the challenge of being a disciple. It might strike you as hard to cling to a message of hope amid a fractured world, but that is the work we must do if we are to point people to Jesus. Will Freemont-Brown’s chapter in the Archbishop’s Lent book ‘Wild Bright Hope’ suggests that for Christians, hope is not the same as optimism but inviting Jesus into the challenging and traumatic: the hopeless places of our lives and the world, we can reimagine those spaces with hope. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans (12.2) urges early followers of Jesus to ‘not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your [our] mind’. Therefore, the challenge for us as contemporary followers of Jesus is not to deny or play down the despair of tariffs and warfare but, through prayer, invite the Holy Spirit to help us reimagine our outlook on the here and now, in light of the liberation Jesus won for us on the cross and in the resurrection. The Venerable Matthew Trick Archdeacon of Derby City and South Derbyshire
The 3Cs project, which aims to provide a new servery and WC in the church, launched its appeal to members of the congregation on Mothering Sunday, 30th March 2025. Members on the Electoral Roll received a letter from the churchwardens, giving more information about the plans and how everyone can help. The aim is to raise sufficient matched funding to enable the church to approach charitable trusts and other grant bodies. A series of community events is also planned to start later in the year. For more information about the project, visit our page here. To donate to the appeal on-line, please click here. We are also conducting a short survey to get the views of the Hartington Community about the church and the project. If you have 2 minutes, we would love to get your feedback. Please click on the link here to take you to our online survey.
Our church, along with every parish in the Church of England, is required to prepare a new Electoral Roll in 2025. This means that we are obliged to destroy our previous Electoral Roll records and to contact those people that were on the list to ensure that they are aware of this, and to offer the opportunity for them to complete a new form, to continue to have their details included. Those currently on the roll will be contacted by Phillip Neal our Electoral Roll Officer but we also welcome new registrations from those not currently on the Electoral Roll. Completed forms can be returned to Phillip by email or if you prefer by post or hand. Please note if sent by email you are not required to physically sign, but please type your name in the signature box, ensure you include your email address on the form, and that the same email address is used to send the form.All forms must be returned by the 1st May ready for presentation to our Annual Parochial Church Meeting on the 21st May.
Bishop Malcolm writes...The message of Holy Week and Easter is that God’s love for us in Jesus is Good News - the best news anyone could ever get. How are we doing at making this obvious to everyone, as it has become obvious to us? One way we do it is simply to be present in each and every local community across Derbyshire. The way we are with our neighbours, the way we are as a church, and the way we are with each other, are all supposed to express the love of God in Christ – and very often they do! Where there is a community full of life and love and hospitality, people will experience ‘good news’ simply by walking through the door and being made welcome. Others will simply see the church tower, and be prompted to pray. But how else do we share the wonders of the life in Christ we have been blessed with? Another way is by making sure our churches are always places where people who are coming with questions about life and faith can find help in their search. Local churches either do it alone or they can team up to ensure there’s always something going on locally geared towards helping people make a start with Jesus. This can be one of the many courses available, or simply a fun evening in church or café or pub where any question is taken seriously, and where new disciples and others can explore the scriptures honestly, making the connections with everyday life. I do enjoy my ministry a lot – but the best thing I get to do as a bishop is to do confirmations. Hearing the stories of people’s search for God – and sometimes of how God has surprised them without their previously having been interested – this is an extraordinary privilege. It encourages the whole church when they tell their story. I thank God for the many churches where an annual confirmation course has once again become routine -something we lost perhaps during Covid, but now have the opportunity to revive. More and more we are hearing of newcomers, especially young people, just turning up at church wanting to see what goes on and to find out more. They don’t necessarily want to be smothered – but they are glad when there is clear information about what is going on and how they can engage if they want to. It is worth thinking of also that most searching and enquiring today happens online. My guess is that some of those who are just randomly turning up at church have begun their search out there. There are a range of great online resources out there to help people become disciples of Jesus – for younger people #thewayuk on Instagram or Youtube or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/twuktv/ is a great place to start. Or there is the Christian Enquiry Agency https://www.christianity.org.uk/site-map And there is helpful material on the Church of England website too: https://www.churchofengland.org/faith-life/what-we-believe This April we keep company with Jesus on his road to Good Friday and to Easter while the guns of war still sound, and in a world where human failure and sin are all too evident. So many lives are broken and hurting. There are many and various factors at play: with ever deepening poverty and rising inequality, with the global rise in political extremism, and with today’s preference for social media silo talk rather than open, honest conversation. Meanwhile the climate emergency only gets more urgent. It would be easy to give in, and give up hope. We must not. And yet, even in these perilous times, Sunday by Sunday, many are finding real hope in Jesus, the crucified and risen one. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are still good news to those who encounter him alive and present today. In Him there is a new creation – a whole new world. Let’s find ways old and new to pass this on. The Rt Revd Malcolm Macnaughton Bishop of Repton
