30th March 2022

I was very struck by David Bell’s musing, in his sermon on the mothering church last Sunday, about the rabbi who taught the young Jesus. He certainly did a good job there! His pupil grew up with far more than the superficial knowledge that comes from rote learning. But what was the young Jesus like as a pupil? I bet he was a tricky customer to teach with all his probing questions and impatience with hypocrisy. Did he stand out from the rest of his class or were there other bright sparks that helped him to develop his ideas?

I was reminded of a Junior Church class we had at New Road some years back. Three of us shared the teaching, roughly a month each in rotation. We frequently shared ideas with each other about how we could continue to stimulate the interest of such a bright, enquiring and sassy bunch of young people. It was demanding work but it also gave us great joy and pleasure as the children developed their understanding of faith and life by exploring ideas together. In due course they grew into young people ready, as David pointed out, to fly the nest.

Now they have scattered and they are living their own lives. I pray that the start they got in Junior Church gave them tools to enrich their lives of service and leadership.

Nick Parsons