This month we start the liturgical season of Lent when churches around the world begin to prepare for Easter. Lent is regarded as a penitential season that builds up to the events of Holy Week culminating in the crucifixion on Good Friday. Once all the pancakes have been eaten on a particular Tuesday evening Lent begins with Ash Wednesday with the Imposition of Ashes when worshippers receive a mark of the cross on their foreheads with words spoken over them:

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return"

Lent holds us together as humans, as mortals, as people who have made mistakes, as people who struggle, as people who hurt ourselves and others.

In summary, Lent feels like a time of turning, a time of confessing, a time of seeking forgiveness, and a time of remembering.

This month, I’d normally be telling you about the Lent and Easter services and events coming up in the next few weeks. But given the summary about Lent that I’ve just given I want to take this opportunity to say something different.

Sorry.

As your local vicar, and thinking about the national Church of England, as your representative of the ‘CofE’ I’m sincerely sorry, the national news about the wider Church of England has been really devastating. The past few months have seen the Safeguarding failings of the Church of England being brought into the light, and some of the voices of survivors finally being heard. As I write, General Synod is meeting and Safeguarding is being discussed. It’s my opinion that we, the national Church of England have utterly failed.

People come to churches in moments of joy, in moments of grief, ready to mark significant moments in life. People encounter the local church week by week, or at festivals, or when seeking a quiet safe space to pause and pray. And all too often, across the nation, local churches haven’t always been a safe space. Which is heartbreaking. When I think of Jesus’, whose Church this is, who loved all and stood up for the forgotten people, I’m conscious that the Church of England we’ve become isn’t always worthy to bear his name.

Nationally the Church of England will make the decisions it makes and I pray that an appropriate way forward will be found. Locally, we will continue to abide by the Safeguarding standards of our diocese. For my part, I want to acknowledge that as Christ’s body – the whole global Church, we’ve not always got things right, and there is so much more work to do, there are many more survivors who need to be heard, there are many more challenges to be resolved. But I want you to know that here in Betley and Madeley, Safeguarding is at the forefront of what we do, and we will continue to strive to improve our practices as we seek to keep you and your family safe.

Please pray for us as we pray for you.

Rev Tim.