Rev Steve's week at St. James. Episode #13
The words of one of our favourite hymns at St. James goes
“All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place”
It is wonderful to be part of a church family at St. James that seeks to embody the unity we are called to create in Christ. We have a long way to go and much to learn from one another but in love, with love, and through love we are moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, many parts of our nation and world are struggling with this same challenge of loving one another, as God loves us. After visiting family and friends in London at the weekend it was good to be able to join the most recent March for Palestine, to call on governments to respect the humanity of all people and to seek a way of peace and reconciliation in these troubled lands.
This Sunday is Racial Justice Sunday and rather than share my own thoughts and reflections, I wanted to share a homily written a Catholic Priest and printed in resources created by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. It expresses many of my own sentiments on the divisions we see within our country at the moment.
"The rise of populism in parts of our world over recent years has caused what Pope Francis referred to as the ‘virus’ of racism to mutate. During the last year, we have witnessed the targeting of asylum-seeker hotels by angry crowds. Some of the protesters have apparently used Christian language and symbolism to justify their intimidation. After one such protest in Portsmouth, the Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of that city wrote a powerful joint letter. They stated how they were ashamed of the intimidation and scapegoating of asylum seekers and refugees. They went further to claim that they were horrified when protestors used Christian language to justify their divisive chants.
It’s the scapegoating of whole groups, portraying them as the source of so many of our country’s ills, that unjustly demonises often desperate people. It’s the use of purportedly Christian language that allows many, like the priest and the Levite in the good Samaritan story, to ‘[pass] by on the other side’ (Luke 10:32). It’s this scapegoating that enables many to negate, in their own minds, the requirement of the Gospels to love our neighbour (Luke 10:27), or the Deuteronomic demand to ‘love the stranger’ (Deuteronomy 10:19, NRSVA). This love requires us to re-humanise those concerned, to listen to their often-desperate stories and to be moved by them. There’s no suggestion here of an ‘open-border’ policy; Catholic Social Teaching has always been clear on the right of states to control their borders. But surely we must not simply scapegoat asylum seekers as the source of our problems.
Indeed, loving our neighbour requires much more; it’s not simply about allowing people to enter this country, but it’s also about enabling them to belong once they are here. Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti reminds us that ‘there is no worse form of alienation than to feel uprooted, belonging to no-one’. Dina Nayeri, the author of The Ungrateful Refugee, argues that immigrants and refugees ‘need the dignity of becoming an essential part of a society … what they most urgently need is to be useful. To belong to a place.’
Back in 1989, a Black religious sister, Thea Bowman, was asked to speak to the Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops in the USA about racism in the church. She began her presentation by singing a ‘spiritual’: ‘Sometimes I feel like a motherless child … a long ways from home!’ Although she was a religious sister of some considerable standing, she was saying that she still did not really belong. She went on, powerfully, to explain that in a so-called ‘participatory church’ she rarely, if ever, experienced any Black musical genres or prayer styles or artistic expressions in the decoration of the places used for services.
The encouragement of Pope John Paul II in 1982 had clearly not been heard: ‘Faith that does not become culture,’ he said, ‘is not fully accepted, nor entirely reflected upon, or faithfully experienced.’ This ‘inculturation’ is not just for taking the gospel to other countries, but also for enabling people from different cultures to belong here.
One of the examples of institutional racism given by Lord Macpherson, who led the government enquiry after the murder in 1993 of the Black teenager Stephen Lawrence, was of established groups in the exercise of power. He was speaking of people who say things like, ‘We’ve always done it this way!’ or, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do!’ It’s this sort of attitude that resists attempts at inculturation. Dina Nayeri suggests that what is required is ‘allowing newcomers to affect you on your native soil, to change you’.
Pope Francis, in his autobiography, warned against expecting people to assimilate, and to conform to the practices already in existence. He wrote, ‘To confuse unity with uniformity is a diabolical temptation. Unity does not mean forced integration nor harmonised marginalisation. Rather it is a reconciled diversity’. Pope John Paul II called this ‘a spirituality of communion’, where we see the face of God in each other and know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters, bearing ‘each other’s burdens.’ "
What’s On at St. James Church 6th February 2026
Sunday 8th February 11am: We will gather for worship. The theme for our service is Racial Justice. Rev Suki will be preaching for us. There will be Godly Play for our children. If any young person would like to be involved in the service (Serving at the front, reading from the bible, praying, singing, helping with the Tech etc.) then please turn up at 10.30am so you can practise.
10.30 / 12 Noon: Coffee in Church. Do make time, either before or after the service to stay and chat with others in our church family.
Everyday at 8.30am and 6pm: Morning and Evening Prayer on ZOOM
Monday 9th February 12noon: Lunch at the Friendship Café (Free)
Tuesday 10th February 10.30am: Coffee and Chat at the Friendship Café Coffee Shop
7.30pm: The Church PCC will be meeting to discuss the life of the church.
Thursday 12th February 7pm: Deanery Synod meets at St. Catherine’s Church, London Road. This meeting discusses the life of the church throughout Gloucester City. These meetings are open to everyone. If you would like to attend but a bit nervous then you can always go with myself, Sandie, or Ade who tend to go to most meetings.
A little further ahead
Wednesday 18th February 7pm: Mark the beginning of Lent with us at our Ash Wednesday Service of Holy Communion.
Saturday 21st February 7pm: QUIZ NIGHT at St. James Church.
5 Week Lent Course:
Wednesday 25th Feb, 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th March
10am: St James Church (in person), then repeated at 6.30pm: On Zoom
As always, if you would like me to pray for, or have a conversation about anything then do get in touch. This time of year can be particularly hard for some of us and I am available to listen and share in whatever might be arising for you at this time.
"Nothing can separate us from the love of God revealed to us in Christ Jesus" Eph8:38-39
With peace and blessings,
Rev Steve
07503164309
(My day off is usually Monday)