MARCH 8th Minister!
At last week’s Governors’ meeting of St Mary’s CE school (by zoom), it was lovely to see some smiley, positive faces! Parent governors and teachers alike are really looking forward to going back to school. I think most parents are over the moon that the end of home schooling is in sight. Perhaps, and I hope this happens, our government will not hesitate to increase the salaries of those whose vocation it is to teach, nurture and shape the lives of all our children. We are lost without them.
Of course there are worries ahead, not least all the testing and re-testing for Covid symptoms in our secondary schools. Social distancing is also a continuing challenge and will be again when friendships are renewed. And catching up on all the learning missed is the biggest test of all. How important it will be to focus hearts and minds on moving forwards.
The same is true for all of us. Thanks to the big list of Lenten books recommended by our TTR group, there’s some catch up needed. Just pick one up or two to enjoy, and let us know which thoughts or suggestions inspired you or changed you? (I seem to have a spare ‘Candles in the Dark’ if you would like to buy or borrow it?)
Looking forward to Holy Week, it looks hopeful that we could go back to worshipping, as before. It also looks likely that we should keep an internet ‘presence’ where young people in particular are attracted and drawn to, even if they have no prior experience of ‘church’ or ‘Lent’ or ‘Easter’. We shall have to be patient, generous, or even radical about how best to live and share the Gospel we proclaim and the Cross we follow.
Fr Nigel