Written by guest contributor Gill Poole, Mission Adviser and Bishop's Chaplain, Diocese of Sodor and Man Written by guest contributor Gill Poole, Mission Adviser and Bishop's Chaplain, Diocese of Sodor and Man
The other day I visited the Scripture Union Beach Mission at beautiful Port St Mary. The beach was alive with the voices of scores of children busy with activities and games in their various age-clusters, gently marshalled by the volunteer leaders. A whistle blows further down the beach, and the “Crunchies” make an enthusiastic dash for the finishing line marked in the sand. The “Smarties” (the youngest) are settling down on mats spread on the sand and start singing along with the accompaniment of a flute. A lot of the leaders are young adults who’ve come for the two weeks – but most of the backup both for the SU and the Peel Beach Mission is by volunteers from churches all over the island who give a couple of days’ input.
Yesterday, after a meeting in Ramsey at lunchtime about a youth project, in the evening I spent a while on the rocky headland at Niarbyl. I climbed a little cliff path and looked south toward Port Erin where clouds bubbled up just offshore and flowed inland, brushing themselves over the craggy coast as they headed for the farmland beyond. In the other direction I looked across the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle, small waves swishing over the rocks just below me as the tide retreated.
I made my way down to the little beach house for a meeting with Meg, who comes down here from the farm with her husband every night. Meg is one of the churchwardens of a combined parish and we met so she could tell me some of the things I need to know for an awayday that their PCC is organising and that they’ve asked me to facilitate.
If Christian life is to be transmitted to following generations to help them to grow and flourish, we all have work to do in understanding why the church patterns and customs that are so special and nurturing to us seem irrelevant or unhelpful to others. What changes must be made to transmit life-giving faith for the benefit of our whole community?
Meg’s church’s timing for exploring how to move forward together is great; at the beginning of August Robert Paterson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, published his Recommendations for changes in how the Church of England operates in the Island, following reports from two independent Commissions he set up late last year. The proposals include the establishment of four Mission Partnerships across the Island to replace the existing Rural Deaneries. The intention is that the Church should be better equipped to serve each parish community through local decision-making and develop the way in which it relates to all people. The underlying purpose is to bring glory to God through the growth of the Church in its faith, its life, its mission and its service. Diocesan Synod in September will discuss the Recommendations, and decisions from there will give us all things to work and pray through in the months to come.
People here have been touched to hear about the words that members of St Nicholas Church said to me on my last Sunday in Marston, saying ‘Go and make your home with the people of the Isle of Man; go with Jesus’ love to the children, the elders, people at work and play, people in need; go to serve the Bishop and diocese of Sodor and Man; and all with the Lord to bless and guide you’. I have felt sustained by those words even as people of this country have blessed me with their welcomes. It’s as if - though a different people - they are a continuum of the friends and neighbours who’ve been such fun in Marston.
The Manx slogan “Isle of Man – Freedom to flourish” – certainly describes what it feels like here. In the Manx hedgerows the flourishing spring flowers gave way to fuscia and crocosmia, and now I wait to see what the autumn and winter bring. The weather changes quickly and today it’s not as windy as it often is. There’s a layer of thin cloud so it’s bright, and blue sky and sunshine are coming and going.
Everything keeps changing, so long as we are alive. And we can rest in God who keeps us secure and free to flourish through it all.
Published in the Marston Times, September 2009