Hello,This month I would like to focus on the work of the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes Young People’s Trust (YPT).A Potted HistoryThe YPT was set up over two decades ago to fund a Church of England Youth Worker in the Uttoxeter Area. Money came from the diocese, local churches and individuals. Once the youth worker post finished, the YPT was left with a chunk of money which was used to fund youth work (led by Rev. Sue Willetts), Open The Book (storytelling in schools), grants for local church projects (such as Big Screen in Tean) and help support training. For the past four years, the primary focus of the YPT has been on paying 25% of the costs of a local Schools Worker.Schools WorkerJordan Lambert became a local Schools Worker about eight years ago. Originally, the post was funded by the Methodist, United Reform and Renew churches in Uttoxeter. The YPT then offered its financial resources. This has meant an outlay of approximately £10,000 per year.Jordan goes into 21 local First, Primary and Middle schools in the Uttoxeter area and beyond. This Spring Term he ran 220 sessions across those schools, including assemblies, worship team sessions and chaplaincy. He also runs specific programmes such as Think Tank, which encourages children to engage in ethical and faith issues, asking them to think for themselves about how these questions impact them and the world in which they live. Jordan also sits on four school governing bodies, providing a consistent Christian input.The big project this Spring was the Cinema Project, where Jordan arranged for over 1000 local schoolchildren to see the film, ‘King of Kings’ at the Uttoxeter Cinebowl.FundingOver the last four years the outgoings from the YPT have far outstripped the income. Some local churches and individuals have maintained a regular total contribution of £800 to the YPT and, after a fundraising push last year, that amount has risen to £2000. With a current bank balance of £15000, you can see that we need more money to continue funding the Schools Worker post, training, the new CofE Brick Church Project and – if affordable – other work aimed at our young people. Small (or large !!), regular donations help us to maintain our commitments and budget for the future. I can guarantee that every single penny donated goes towards the work.The Big Why?The Schools Worker post that the YPT part-funds does work that we do not have the money, staff or volunteers to do ourselves. For a relatively small outlay, Jordan reaches over a thousand children that we do not have in our congregations. He opens up possibilities of faith which, most importantly, helps to equip them for decisions they make now or later in life.If you’d like to contribute to the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes Young People’s Trust, please contact our Benefice Administrator on 01889 562915 or uttoxeterareaparish@outlook.comIf you’d like to talk about what the YPT does, please contact one of the Trustees, who are myself (joecant214@gmail.com, 07592 206706), Rev. Jules Walker, Linda Beech, Andy White, Toby Collins and Nicola Bagworth. Peace and prayers, Rev. Joe Cant, Team Vicar, Uttoxeter Area of Parishes.
One of my earliest childhood recollections is standing on the front doorstep with mother as we waited for the bus to take my brother off to school. As I stood there a young Jean Sargeant shouted across the road to me saying that I had dropped my handkerchief and, as I looked on the ground for it, she gleefully added ‘April Fool!’ Yes, it’s April and the month begins with light-hearted jest – and some slight embarrassment for those caught out. With humour being in short supply at the moment, maybe a little laughter wouldn’t hurt.Looking at the lectionary for the month, I was mindful that the Sunday after Easter was traditionally referred to as Low Sunday; possibly because of the contrast with the high celebration of Easter Day, or even because congregation numbers were typically lower. Another theory is that ‘Low’ was simply a corruption of the word ‘Laudes’ meaning praise. Whatever the reason, the name seems to have disappeared from common use. In fact, a couple of years ago I discovered a new name for this particular Sunday… Holy Humour Sunday or Laughter Sunday.With much going on in the world that is very unsettling, it’s no wonder that people are becoming disillusioned. Disillusioned with world powers and leaders, disillusioned with politics, even disillusioned with the weather! During that first Easter week the disciples were afraid, and locked themselves in the room where they stayed. Not only were they fearful, but they would also have been disillusioned, and probably hurting from all that they had lost. We cannot fully imagine the immense joy they experienced when the risen Christ burst into their places of darkness. For them this was the start of something wonderfully new which gained momentum through this feeling of joy.Most of us would agree that joy and laughter are important things, yet many people experience worship in churches where laughter and even the sound of children is still frowned upon. For some reason, many have equated devout religion with solemnity, which is rather sad. Joy and laughter can lead us to healing. Sometimes God’s grace comes to us in the form of humour that helps us make it through another day. Recognising that humour is a characteristic of the divine nature helps us deepen our understanding of the nature of God; remembering that God laughs at us and with us – and that laughter is an expression of God’s love and acceptance.May we all be so infected with the joy of this Eastertide, that both our fellowship and our secular lives will reflect that love and acceptance that God desires, and that we can overcome disillusionment with laughter – even if we just laugh at ourselves. So, I leave you with this…A vicar requested quotes from local painters to redecorate the exterior of the parish hall. All the quotes were within a few pounds of one another, except for one by a parishioner who had been in business for years and had an excellent reputation in the community. His quote was about half of his competitors, so naturally the vicar gave him the job. On the day he was to begin, the painter realised that he had miscalculated badly. Not wanting to lose face and the job, he decided to add water to the paint to make it go further. A week later he received a phone call from the vicar, complaining that after recent rain half the paint had washed off. Feeling a sense of guilt, the painter went inside the church to pray about his dilemma, knowing that his business reputation was on the line. “What can I possibly do, Lord?” prayed the disheartened painter. In a loud voice God replied, “Repaint! Repaint and thin no more!”With Blessings and Big Smiles,JohnRevd John Lander, Self-Supporting Minister within the Area, especially for Bramshall.
Dear friends,As I write, my Alexa has just informed me that we have a severe weather warning for snow in Marchington in the next few days. Really, I say! Only yesterday I was marvelling at the snow-drops blooming, and the daffodil bulbs peeking through, so really – more grey and dismal weather! But then I reminded myself that creation is telling me that once again we are entering into the season of new life. After the deadness of Winter, we are witnessing trees and plants coming back to life and perhaps that’s the same for us too - there is much to celebrate in the shoots of growth in our lives, and parishes, and Area. It’s amazing what Spring can do for our spirits, isn’t it? We may feel fed-up with the way life is during Winter – all the cold and damp and dull weather – but when Spring arrives it lifts our spirits. It gives us hope!The Church’s liturgical year mirrors that transformation from death to life with the season of Lent as we move towards our Easter Day Celebrations on March 31st. The season of Lent continues through-out March, a time of personal reflection paused only for the celebration of Mother Church on March 10th. For Christians this season is meant to get us ready to receive new life, and in particular the new life that we experience in the resurrection of Jesus. It’s an important time to journey and reflect on Jesus’ place in our lives – let’s not rush to the chocolate eggs and bunnies too quickly!As we near the end of Lent, the journey of Holy Week draws us deeper into the story of God and God’s profound love for the world. We will journey through the events of Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday when our emotions will range from gleeful joy, to humble wonder, to dark sadness. Good Friday will bring us to the broken, pain-filled sorrow of death. On Easter Day, the resurrection of Jesus Christ reveals God’s gift to us in the truth of the new life: the truth that God is a God of love who walks with us and longs to brings us to a place of wholeness, a place of possibility, a place of new life. New life that is grounded in hope and compassion. New life that is deeply connected to God’s love and is passionate about sharing that love with the world. New life that reveals God’s justice in ways that transform not only our lives, but the whole world. So, as we continue our journey remember the word “Lent” comes from the old English word from which we get “lengthen”, it means to grow. Lent is the Springtime of the soul; a time when, this year, we need to be kind to ourselves and prune away, through prayer, all that has caused us to be anxious and afraid, so that we anticipate the new life and growth of the Easter season.Can you feel the tingling anticipation of new life and hope growing?Have a blessed Easter!Yours as ever,JulesRev’d Jules WalkerInterim Team Vicar, Uttoxeter Area of Parishes.
