Cumbrian Migrant

Amazingly, it's nearly 6 weeks since we moved in and coming up to a month since I was licensed. Here's something else I've noticed: long evenings. I'm sure it gets darker later here, presumably because we're further north. 10.30 at night and it's still only twilight: we're seeing some wonderful night skies.

Since last blog, a large number of encounters worth writing about:

• I've visited one of our church primary schools: there are two, plus another state school which has good church connections. I was so impressed with the quality of the place, in particular that they offer the children many opportunities of residential experience for learning history or geography, or glimpsing the life of a university student. It's all about aspiration. They also have a Christian value for each half of term, currently 'perseverance'. I have to decide how much to get involved, e.g. taking assemblies or even just story-telling.
• I had a session with the Town Clerk, who gave me the benefit of her knowledge and experience. She had only been in post for less than a year when the flood hit. She explained to me the challenges of having a town so popular with retirees, which both makes for an older population and can exclude younger people from the housing market. (Another problem of migration!) Currently, the Council has a policy that 40% of new housing must be 'affordable' for first-time buyers.
• I have done my first wedding (happy!) and another 2 funerals.
• There has been a church meeting for one of our churches, which has had a hard time in recent years. There is a feeling of a page having been turned, and of a renewal of hope. They may not be huge in number, but there is an unmistakable devotion to the Lord Jesus and his church, which I find quite moving. We just need to think more in terms of blessing the town than 'keeping the church going'. Nothing new there then!
• Last Sunday, there was a more 'normal' service in the morning, this time in Broughton itself, where I live. Unusually, I was present for a non-eucharistic service which enabled a more informal style, led so well by an experienced lay member of the congregation. She has clearly been helping to hold the church together for many years, as vicars have come and gone. That happens a lot round here!
• In the afternoon, I visited two families who have applied for their baby's baptism. A long time since I've done this, but what a joy it was! The thing is, here, everything is much smaller scale from what I have been used to. Smaller communities, smaller churches, therefore fewer people to exercise their ministry, so more for clergy to do. So it's back to the basics of parish ministry as far as I'm concerned BUT, part of my task here is to enable more people to take on pastoral and liturgical roles for the days ahead when there will be even fewer clergy to go round.
• On Sunday evening, I was grilled by a young people's group - 12 in number with 4 adult leaders. So enjoyable, with a tangible sense of joy in the things they share together. I hope we shall get to know each other well, and see young faith grow and mature into adult discipleship.

This Sunday: one of our churches celebrates its 150th anniversary. So, a special service has to be written and we will have two mayors and our MP present! When it was founded, it was intentionally for 'the poor of the parish' and this church has always been known for its care and compassion. This was demonstrated most recently in the flood. But now? Where are we going? What new calling is God placing on our life? Maybe we can use the anniversary as a time of reflection.

So back to the migration issue. I've been doing some more reading around this. Leaving aside migrants who leave their country for another (100,000 already this year in the Mediterranean alone!), there are millions of Internally Displaced People (IDPs): 6m in Syria, 3.3m in Nigeria, 3m in DR Congo, 2m in Iraq and 2.5m in Sudan. All these figures are approximate, of course, but it gives a sense of the scale of the problem. It is hard for us to imagine what this must be like, living in more settled communities. But we do need surely to think 'hospitality'. The former Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, has pointed out that in the Hebrew scriptures we are only once commanded to 'love our neighbour' but 37 times to 'love the stranger'. And when you think about it, the story of the People of God in both Testaments is of refugees, asylum seekers and travellers: from Adam and Eve, sent out of the Garden to Abraham who was commanded to leave his own country, to the Exodus and the Exile, to Jesus' own flight into Egypt and Paul's travels. 

You could also say that Jesus sought asylum on earth from heaven. Which leads one to the First Letter of Peter, where God's people are described as 'sojourners and exiles' (1 Peter 2.11): earth being our temporary home while our true home is in heaven. Today we remember St Columba, who 'migrated' (as many Celtic Christians did) from Ireland to Scotland and the north-west of England.

None of this, I'm afraid, really addresses the massive problem of migration and human trafficking, but at least if we can get our attitude right it might lead to appropriate actions.