Sussex will see hundreds of children turning to church-run holiday clubs which operate from parishes across the Diocese of Chichester throughout the holidays. St Peter’s Church in Selsey’s holiday club is aimed at children who would normally receive free school meals and is in collaboration with Selsey Lions Club and Youth Dream, a charity which provides youth services in the community. Andrew Wilkes, the Rector of St Peter’s Church Selsey said: “It is so important for the parish church to be involved in this."We hope by providing meals and fun activities, in a safe and secure environment, will mean one less thing for parents and carers to worry about."After all, lending a helping hand to our neighbours is at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian.”At St Richard’s Church in Hollingdean, Brighton, a summer club will be operating for the first time in partnership with a Council Program called HAF (Holiday Activities & Food).Maleni Simarro a church community pastor said: “Working in partnership with the local authority and other organisations is our first step to connecting with schools and getting to know the needs of the community.“The holiday club programme provides a hot meal and daily activities that involve fitness and learning about healthy eating, plus other fun workshops. It is free to any child on free school meals.The Chanctonbury group of churches are based in rural Sussex near Storrington. They are running their first ever children’s holiday club this summer.Children will be offered fun packed, thrilling adventures including a “travelling through time” programme with “Potty Professors”. Nick Taylor is head of Kids Community at Chanctonbury churches. He explained the heart behind the club:“We wanted to offer another connection point between the church and our local community, hosting a space that we can get to know families and children and tell them about Jesus in an approachable and loving and relevant way. "We see this as a springboard to journey with these families more in the next year or so as we invite them to engage with us more and more after this first contact. "Some of our church values are ‘people are precious’ and ‘heaven is here’ - we want to love people extravagantly like Jesus did, and reveal to them that heaven is indeed here and accessible to us all, whoever we are!”
Back in the 1950's an Anglican priest called Ted Wickham worked in an industrial mission in Sheffield. His calling was to be among the foundry workers, the grime and the dirt that they endured, as he went about preaching God's word. He wrote a book called "Church and People in an Industrial City" which was acclaimed and became the blueprint for Christian outreach to the masses.Ted Wickham became a bishop, retained his trenchant views about how the Church should get its hands dirty and continued his pioneering work in Manchester Diocese, opening one of the first soup kitchens for the homeless in the early Sixties. Bishop Ted, who died in 1994, would be delighted by the exhibition that has opened at Sheffield Cathedral, where he became a canon, as highlighted this week by the Yorkshire Post.The earliest references to steel-making in South Yorkshire dates as far back as the 15th century, but it was 300 years later that Sheffield was to emerge as an industrial powerhouse. With Benjamin Huntsman’s invention of crucible steel in 1742, the city began to capitalise on the Industrial Revolution centred on its prowess with the metal.At the centre of The Foundry exhibition in Sheffield Cathedral is archive film footage from British Pathé, as the exhibition transports visitors back to an era at the height of the city’s steel-making industry. It also showcases how artists, craftspeople and sculptors continue to use steel today to create thought-provoking and challenging pieces of work.Artist Peter Walker, who is the director of the exhibition, said: “At the heart of The Foundry is a remarkable film showing historic Pathé footage of the steel industry in Sheffield.“Around this there is an opportunity to explore how the city’s connection to the steel industry has inspired artists around the country over the past 50 years – sometimes playfully, sometimes intellectually, but always creatively to adapt and respond to the material and to explore different and diverse subjects."This is an exhibition for seeing something different, for connecting with the past and for cherishing the influence Sheffield’s legacy has, and continues to have, on the world around us.”The Vice Dean and Canon Missioner of Sheffield Cathedral, the Rev Canon Keith Farrow, said: “The cathedral has stood here for hundreds of years and the city of Sheffield has grown around it.“People working in the Sheffield steelworks will have worshipped here, been baptised here, got married here and been laid to rest here. “So we are delighted to be able to host an exhibition like The Foundry, which reflects on the history of this great city and how the actions and lives of people in the past have shaped how we live our lives today.”The Foundry exhibition, which has free admission, is being staged until September 2.
A series of sad, stark messages posted on Twitter last week by St Bride's Church, London, highlight the dangers facing journalists around the world.St Bride's, Fleet Street (see photo), known as 'The Journalists' Church,' announced the names of three people added to its Journalists' Altar. These were three more journalists who had lost their lives reporting the news.They were: TV cameraman Alexander Lashkarava, who died in Georgia; Danish Saddiqui, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, killed covering clashes between Afghani and Taliban forces; and investigative journalist Peter R De Vries, shot in Amsterdam.St Bride's said: "We pray for them, their families and for the safety of all in danger in their mission to bring us the news."Being a journalist has never been easy. Just now, in countries across the globe, it has become increasingly dangerous.Speaking at St Bride's in 2019, Courtney Radsch, Director of Advocacy at the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called on Christians and members of other faiths to protest when press freedom is eroded or reporters are attacked or jailed.In December 2020, CPJ named Mexico as the most dangerous country for journalists worldwide, with nine killed in the previous year.Recent months have seen clampdowns on press freedom in Hong Kong and Myanmar, and Belarus being named by Reporters Without Borders as the most dangerous country in Europe for media personnel.Dr. Radsch pointed out that countries with poor records on press freedom often score badly on freedom of religious belief too.Her advice to individual believers was: to champion quality journalism by being willing to pay for their news; to refuse to decry reporting with which they disagree as 'fake news'; and to value the role that journalists play in bringing new information to light.As someone who has worked in and with the media for more than 40 years, I am always frustrated when I come across Christians who perceive the media as 'anti-church.'True, knowledge of issues around faith varies across journalists and media outlets. Accuracy and understanding around doctrinal issues and church structures is not widespread - reflecting much of wider society.But often journalists are raising the questions and concerns that many people outside the church are asking - and that questioning can bring scandals and shortcomings to light.One network that brings together Christians who work across media is the UK-based Christians in Media. It recently launched a mentoring scheme for young Christians wanting to go into the media. Its other initiatives include an annual Day of Prayer for the Media, this year on Sunday October 31st 2021.In a post-truth, fake news world, the skilled journalist is a friend to be valued, not a foe to be jeered.The world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to report on. In many countries, brave journalists are seeking to highlight corruption and hold powerful people to account.Christians should be among those supporting a free media in our own countries and overseas - as well as encouraging them to keep striving for, and seeking out, the truth.
