Rector’s Letter

We’ve felt truly blessed over the last few weeks by children and their families taking part in different services and events going on in St Michael’s church. The month began with a Youth Assembly that we hosted for children in Houghton and the wider region who met with our MP Bridget Philipson – you can read more about that in an article later in Signpost. All the children involved did an amazing job and spoke passionately about making changes for the better for our local area. Our All-age service at the beginning of the month saw large numbers of children coming to us including a lot of families of children who will be Baptised over the summer. At the service (and at a follow up meeting) the parents told us about some of the reasons they’re bringing their children to be baptised that included for traditional reasons, to be part of a community and to help their children learn good values in life. They expressed that they felt we were a very welcoming and child-friendly and they felt very comfortable and happy coming to us on a Sunday.

Towards the end of the month, we had local Year 6 children visiting us for a Leaver’s Service as they end their time at primary school and prepare for their move to secondary school. In the service, we had a number of different ‘stations’ around church which they visited and used for reflection & prayer. At one of the stations, the children were asked to ‘have their say’ and to tell us what they wanted church to be for them. At another station the children made a little Lego model to represent themselves and they placed these onto our Altar (for many people the most Holy place in church) to acknowledge how precious they are to God. There were some really amazing and creative ‘prayers’ from the children in these stations – a child who made a model of himself as a bridge because of the way he helps people, a girl who made a paint palette because of the way she helps bring
colour to situations. The children made some really profound insights at the service.

One of the readings that we use in infant baptism services comes from Mark’s Gospel chapter 10 verses 13 to 16 where Jesus says: ‘…let the little children come to me… the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’ The reading feels very apt to reflect on at this time given all that’s going on in our church at present. I think often we can consider the words of Jesus to ‘let the children come to me’ as being about the role we have to take to help children learn about Christ. I was struck (as I often am when working with children and young people) by how much we learn from children when we stop and listen to the insights they bring when we ask them about their understanding of God. I wonder if sometimes as adults our preconceptions or the concerns that we carry get in the way of our relationship with God. Jesus tells us in Mark 10 that we need to receive the Kingdom like a child if we are truly to enter it. I wonder then what we can learn from children to help us in our relationship with God?

I have been really blessed by the children who we’ve met in this last month and I learned
a great deal from them: not least to be reminded, that the Kingdom of God truly belongs
to ’such as these’.

With my prayers and very best wishes