‘Open up, you gates!

Open wide, you aged doors

And the glorious King will come in.

Who is this glorious King?

The Lord, strong and mighty.’ (Psalm 24:7)

These past 2 weeks have seen us rejoicing with students collecting excellent results. Results that open doors, that release the gates that held them.

University places, College courses, apprenticeships and higher education await them as they see the pathways ahead stretch out in front of them.

Maybe you remember the elation, the joy of seeing doors opened to you and you considered the future looking hopeful and full of promise. We pray for those students – some I spoke to preparing to go to Leicester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Greenwich Universities – for their aspirations, hopes and safety and we celebrate with them.

We also came alongside those students who didn’t get the results they’d hoped for. The doors were only partially opened, the gates to other directions were opened instead. In these moments, we probably all have stories of having to pivot from one direction into something different. We may reflect on the sadness or the anti-climax, the lack of confidence in what comes next and how we might step forward into something we hadn’t dreamed of.

This September we will welcome students and staff back again. We will welcome students and staff afresh.

Some will have planned this step, some will have planned differently. Even those whose plans have been fulfilled may be facing circumstances that has shaken their footing – a health diagnosis, an accident, a life-event, financial or housing problems. We pray for those.

We pray for their safety, their hopes and dreams and the daily tasks that still need to be done.

Let us – regardless of who we are and what we face – roll up our sleeves and face the year ahead with boldness and faith.

Let us – regardless of how life feels at the moment – set our jaws to the task of generously caring for ourselves and those around us with humility and the stamina that comes from God.

Heavenly God,

Open up our eyes to the vision you have for our year ahead.

Set our strength to do the best we can with what we have.

Guard our hearts and minds as we seek to serve and be served in the terms to come.

And reward us with your peace, the joy of your love, and the warmth of your presence in all we do.

Amen

February 2025

Love is patient and Kind. Love is a many splendid thing. Can’t buy me love. Love is all around us.

Films, songs, books, paintings, photographs, and scripture are filled with stories and words of love.

This last week we have been thinking about REAL LOVE and what it would mean to show love for one another as Jesus commanded us to.

The story of St Valentine is one of courage and bravery – standing up for his faith and his devotion to the people he cared for in the 3^rd century when he lived. He wrote letters of encouragement and signed them ‘From your Valentine’. My question though is do we really know what real love is like and how can we show it in our thoughts, words and actions.

Paul says that Love is patient and kind, it is not rude, it isn’t jealous and rejoices in the truth. Love goes on. There is faith and hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13)

What would our schools and homes and cities be like if everyone showed these things in the life?

There would be more peace, and everyone would be more at peace too.

Lord God, you gave your only son to show your love for the world.

Help us to be courageous in showing love for each other.

Help us to be more patient and kind and to think of others as people loved by God.

Help us to make a fresh start everyday so that we might make the world a better place.

Amen

Recently, local churches hosted year 2 classes from local schools. They visited The Christmas Journey. An immersive storytelling of the Christmas story that includes everything from creation to the resurrection. 

They were encouraged to not only see the reason for Christmas but also challenged to see two things in a new way:

God's gifts of the world - creation, our environment and our role in looking after it. 

And why Jesus, the light of the world, was sent to show everyone how, with God, the world could be a place of light and hope and joy. 

As you and your family celebrate - however you choose - maybe spend some time considering the things in your life that feel like gifts and blessings. Spend a few moments giving thanks for the things that you value, and wonder for a while on how you might spread love, peace and joy in your own way. 

In the sadnesses we see and feel, God sends his Spirit to strengthen us and hold us safe. 

In the joys we celebrate, God encourages us to remember that they are gifts to be treasured. 

And in our lives that we live, God hopes that we will be a blessing to others as Jesus was and is a blessing to the world. 

Heavenly God, grant us sight to see you at work in our world. Grant us ears to hear your voice of love in our schools and communities and homes. And grant us voices to sing your praise and speak words of kindness. Amen. 

September 2024

Welcome! Or Welcome back, if you’ve been here before.

Welcome is a funny word. A lot different from hello or hi.

It was first recorded as being used in the 1300’s and is very similar to the way European countries greet their guests. A word made up of ‘a pleasure or joy’ or ‘choose’ and ‘for my guest to arrive’.

At home we may have a welcome mat beside the door, we may offer our guests a seat, a drink and our attention. But how do we do it at school?

Staff welcome children, young people and families at the gates and welcome them inside.

Children welcome visitors to their school or classroom with a cheery Good Morning.

And classes will welcome new people by supporting them with a buddy or friend.

I wonder how parents welcome new parents, or children welcome new children.

Welcome is a powerful thing in the Bible – life-changing sometimes.

Not only do we hear of Abraham and Sarah welcoming God into their tent, or Jesus being welcomed at the house of Zacchaeus, but the disciples are told to go out into the neighbourhoods and bring good news and be welcomed into people’s homes.

As we start a new school year – what will you Welcome? Take pleasure, make a choice to invite into your home, your life, timetable?

How will you welcome the positive things that bring you joy and turn away those things that steal it?

How might you support and pray for our schools that they may continue to be welcoming and that our new starters will feel welcomed by everyone?

Lord God,

We thank you for our schools, homes and communities.

We pray that they may be welcoming to those who need to know they are loved, accepted and valued.

Help us to welcome into our lives the things that bring us joy.

Help us to turn away those things that bring us sadness and doubt.

O God, as you welcomed all people, let us welcome you into lives that we make the world a better place.

Amen.

June 2024

So here we are. The start of the last term before the summer break.

The beginning of the end if you like.

For some it is exciting, a chance to look at the light at the end of the tunnel and see a bright future ahead.

For others, it is a slippery slope that is getting so close, an unstoppable end point with change, endings and uncertainty coming.

I wonder which it is for you.

But looking ahead – whether we are the first or the latter person above – sometimes means that we neglect to notice the here and now. Some call it ‘being present’ or ‘mindfulness’.

Why not take a moment when you can this week to recognise where you are now. The journey you have been on since September, the things you have achieved or the hurdles you’ve managed to get past.

Our younger students have got passed their SATS, our older students are now part way through their exams. For the adults, scroll or flick through your diary and remind yourself of the times you have needed support and the times you have been more at peace.

All these things are moments to give thanks to God. St Paul – whilst shackled in prison – said that in all things we should give thanks to God. At all times pray and give thanks.

Give thanks for the present, the moments that feel like a blessing, the snippets of support and celebration that get you through each week. Give thanks for the presence of God as you need the Strength of the Holy Spirit more than usual maybe.

Father God,

Creator of all things, beginning and end, Spirit and supporter,

We give thanks for all that is past and the things we have learned about ourselves and the world.

Help us in our strong days and our weak to recognise your presence.

Encourage us to rest in you for our needs and inspire us to support others through our faith.

Remind us Lord that with you All Shall Be Well.

Amen

This last couple of weeks have been sprinkled with celebrations.

Whether you celebrated Easter, Eid or the merely the start of British Summer Time, I hope you have found them uplifting, joy-giving and inspiring.

This new term begins with bright blue sky, driving rain, biting cold, high winds and patches of lovely warm sunshine. A true British Summers day. But with it comes uncertainty – coat or not, umbrella or not, sunglasses, gloves, rainhat, snow shovel, sunscreen or bivouac?

This term also begins like that for many of our children and young people: 

Our year 6 pupils now know there Secondary School places and hopefully most will be satisfied. 

They are however facing the prospect of SATS in a number of weeks’ time.

Similarly too, our Year 11 students are planning for their Prom whilst working really diligently towards their exams that begin in the coming weeks.

God’s people are resilient. I preached on this yesterday and we used the example of Nehemiah.

God’s people have been scattered, their identity has been knocked. Yet they still follow God and still try to hold onto their values. Their present is uncertain, their future without hope, but still they go onwards.

Regardless of the uncertainty of the world, their ability to bounce back from setbacks is equalled by their faith in a loving God who values them and encourages them.

My prayer for each of us this term is to double down on our faith – pray a bit more, worship a little more, read more if you can, and look and listen for God more.

My hope is that even if those around us are struggling and stressing – they will take courage and find peace in those of us who can offer a word of compassion and a prayer of thanksgiving.

Lord God,

Ready us for whatever is to come.

Strengthen us to journey through what we need to get through.

Inspire us to seek those things that will make us resilient.

Encourage us to support others as we also remember to care for ourselves.

Bless us as we look to you for your spirit’s touch upon our lives.

In God’s Holy name we pray.

Amen.