Dear Parishioner,
I enjoyed preparing and preaching at St Thomas Church today on the Parable of the Losts Sons in the Gospel of Luke chapter 15. If you would like to listen again or for the first time here is a link to the sermon:
In my preparation I owe a lot to Tim Keller, whose writing and speaking on this parable is wonderfully illuminating. I wholeheartedly recommend his book:
Also, we sang a joyful new song by CityAlight called 'We Too Have Overcome'. Here is a link to this song, which I hope will become a source of praise to God for you as it is for me:
Every blessing
Rev Adam
A study course from Churches Together
Tuesday morning 10.45-12.00 Feb 18th
or
Thursday evening 7.30-8.45 Feb 20th
For eight sessions
For more in formation contact Richard:
richardsharples@methodist.org.uk or Tel 01287 658441
This course is open and free to all
Safeguarding
Dear Parishioner,
The Church of England and Safeguarding has been a feature of the news for a while now, and especially this week with the General Synod meeting. In light of this I thought the following short piece by Jim Gamble, Lead Auditor for INEQE Safeguarding Group, was worth reading to encourage us to continue developing good safeguarding practices in our church. This link will take you to the website, or you can read the full text below.
Every blessing
Adam
Safeguarding in the Church of England: An Independent Perspective
A year and a half ago, my team and I began our independent audits of safeguarding in the Church of England. Like many external observers, I was initially deeply cynical about the Church’s capacity to learn from past failures.
However, as we gathered evidence and listened to those within the Church—from worshippers and staff to some victims and survivors—we observed a positive and improving trend and the potential for real change.
We examined over 4,000 safeguarding documents and engaged with over 5,500 individuals. In doing so we found that the vast majority of those worshipping or working in Church environments feel safe and respected; safeguarding is becoming embedded, and a growing number feel the culture is improving, with many now feeling empowered to challenge authority.
This progress is largely thanks to the blended Diocesan Safeguarding Teams who bring valuable experience and networks from statutory safeguarding backgrounds, along with the dedicated work of Parish Safeguarding Officers and cathedral volunteers. Supported by the National Safeguarding Team, they are the professionals now driving safeguarding activity.
While the Church has historically been criticised for ignoring safeguarding advice, the irony is that now, with a unique opportunity for progress, some—perhaps only a few, but a few too many—may disregard the advice of those who have driven this improvement: the Diocesan Safeguarding Officers.
So, what next? The Church of yesterday is not the Church of today. Moral outrage and public exposure have driven significant change. This does not mean that non-recent cases will not surface—indeed, we must hope that they do. Nor does it mean that offending in a contemporary sense will cease entirely. But it does mean that, when it does occur, it is now more likely to be challenged and addressed with the victim and survivor’s best interests at the forefront.
I know it’s tempting to impose solutions on the Church, but for it to work and become safer, safeguarding must be embedded in its DNA; safeguarding must be done by the Church, not to it. I believe this can be achieved via a consolidated and operationally independent internal safeguarding directorate led by a Director of Safeguarding.
This Director would have ultimate authority on all safeguarding matters, while existing governing bodies and their trustees, supported by credible external scrutiny, would ensure accountability at all levels.
Oddly, the Audit team was not asked for an opinion or to give evidence to inform the thinking of those tasked with deciding next steps. It is almost as if there is an inevitability that, whether right or wrong, something needs to be seen to be done to the Church. I get that, but from someone who has seen what has been and is being done, and for what it’s worth, here is my opinion: don’t tamper too much with what is actually working now, based on what didn’t work before.
Jim Gamble QPM
Lead Auditor
INEQE Safeguarding Group
Revd Adam Reed’s Sermons
The link below goes to all of Revd Adam’s sermons
https://soundcloud.com/adam-reed-995398402
Our current sermon series on 'The Bible' (Sundays) and the 'Book of Esther' (Tuesdays) have reached week 6.
The links below will take you to the sermon playlists, where you will have the opportunity to listen to all the sermons so far.
Every blessing
Adam
'THE BIBLE'
https://soundcloud.com/adam-reed-995398402/sets/the-bible
'THE BOOK OF ESTHER'
https://soundcloud.com/adam-reed-995398402/sets/esther
Dear Parishioner,
Do you find it difficult to talk about Jesus?Do people find it difficult to talk to you about the things that really matter?
I would like to share with you two recently recorded talks given by Glen Scrivener at the Keswick Convention. The talks have been given the title 'Evangelism in a Post-Christian Age' Parts 1 and 2. Don't let the title put you off! Glen simply wants to encourage us in having good conversations with our family and friends, our colleagues and acquaintances, whereby we can share the good news story of Jesus.
In the talks he draws on the themes of the 321 Course which we ran in June this year. I can highly recommend the 321 Course as something to do personally and share with others.
Every blessing,
Rev Adam
EVANGELISM IN A POST-CHRISTIAN AGE: PART 2
SPEAK LIFE 321
321 is a course that invites you to see life the way Jesus does. Inspired by Jesus’ vision of reality, 321 is designed to help you think about God, the world and yourself through immersive videos and thoughtful illustrations.
To book your place please speak to Revd Adam or Christine on 01287 622 251.
Find out more here:
https://speaklife.org.uk/321course/
Link to ‘Christians in Saltburn and Skelton’
This local website has recorded talks from several recent Bible courses plus a daily Bible blog and other useful content.
News of Adam Young in Japan
Adam Young, previously a minister here at Emmanuel, is now serving as a missionary in Japan with OMF. He does a 4-minute video blog every week with his latest news. You can watch it on Facebook (Adam Young Japan Mission Prayer) or follow it on YouTube. Or if you'd prefer to have the link sent to you each week Geoff Bland is happy to do that. Just let him know geoffbland2009@gmail.com
