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‘So I’ve now left the world of safeguarding behind’ This was a comment I overheard on Saturday during a walk through Windsor Great Park, the day before the great storm struck and closed it the public. I suppose we are all conditioned to hear certain buzz words that emerge from the low level hubble-bubble of conversation around us, and ‘safeguarding’ is for me, one such obvious word. Crystal Palace and Jimi Hendrix are others. Clearly I didn’t know the circumstances – a social worker or police officer moving to a new role, or a local Methodist safeguarding officer moving on in line with the six year rule perhaps? There was no ‘yay!’ at the end nor sound of regret. It was just a matter of fact statement. I moved past the pair having their conversation and focussed on the path ahead. It struck me later that we might, for whatever reason, leave the world of safeguarding, but I asked myself the question of whether the world of safeguarding ever leaves us? Our renewed commitment, training, and a heightened awareness is changing church culture and so although we may no longer have a specific function or responsibility, we probably can’t switch off our antennae. Which is a good thing, if we hold to the view that safeguarding is everyone’s business. Working in safeguarding can be stressful because of what we learn about in fulfilling our role. We also know that there is a challenge to our local church volunteers in keeping on top of the essential record keeping. So maybe we should, from time to time, take a step back and enable someone else to pick up the task, to bring new energy and drive. But I’m pretty sure that if we do that, we will still maintain that sense of keeping a watchful eye and offer support when and where it is most needed. I don’t think the world of safeguarding ever quite leaves us behind.

God of creation, open our eyes to the needs of your world God of the weak and disadvantaged, open our ears to their silent cries God of the frail and powerless, open our hands to be used in their service God of the lonely and disaffected, open our hearts to invite them into Your loving embrace As you love us, may we love our brothers and sisters. We pray that you may fill us with your strength and wisdom to respond to the needs of all your children. Amen. PLEASE PRAY FOR: 1. Whitechapel Mission 2. Ascension Trust 3. Tea and Memories, Hampton Methodist Church

Ever loving and forgiving God, we pray for the churches in our Circuit. As we continue to share our lives with each other may we have a fresh passion to serve those in our wider communities. May your Holy Spirit inspire and encourage us to be open to new ways of helping those in need and valuing those around us. Empowering Lord we pray that we might always receive one another with grace, patience and understanding so that all we do will bring you the glory. PLEASE PRAY FOR: 1. We pray for those training to become Local Preachers and Worship Leaders that they will continue to follow their call, study diligently and serve you with humility and grace. We give thanks for all those accredited Local Preachers in our Circuit who bless our congregations through their leading of services and we celebrate those who have expressed a call to full-time Ministry, praying that they will continue to follow where you lead and always listen to your voice of wisdom, mercy and love. 2. We pray blessings upon our Ministers for their gifts, graces and enthusiasms that they may continue to proclaim your gospel of love, that the world might be transformed and renewed. 3. We pray all these things in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Spoiler Alert: the Advanced Level Safeguarding Training course features a cartoon that aims to illustrate how touch can be experienced in church by survivors of abuse and those who are sensitive to touch by another person who is not, for example, a close friend or relative. I’m not sure that the point of what we are aiming to convey is exactly rocket science but it does perhaps make us pause to think about our own attitudes towards touch, whether wanted or not. It generally prompts a useful conversation and hopefully raises the level of awareness about the issue. Thinking more widely about touch, it’s not just about people. I know that touching nylon or the material that old fashioned plastic macs were made of (remember them?) makes my skin crawl, and almost the thought of it makes me tingle as I write. Readers may also have their own texture touch phobias. However here’s an innovative chance to have your say about how you feel about touch. Last week’s ‘All in the Mind’ programme on BBC Radio 4 focused on a new research project that has been launched to ‘understand the similarities and differences in our experience of touch with the aim of increasing understanding of its role in health and well-being’. Developed by a team at Goldsmith’s College in London, the Touch Test will enable you to offer your own thoughts about touch including what you consider to be appropriate or inappropriate touch by others. Here are links to the test through the BBC website: https://goldpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5jvoipiuzvf8dlb; https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dfp3 The test is in two parts, the first taking 15 minutes and the second 20 minutes. There are full instructions and details about what is involved. The results will be published later in the year. Why not give it a go?

Gracious and loving God, as we recall with joy your faithfulness to us in the Teddington Circuit, we continue to pray for your blessing on these communities in which we serve. As Teddington, Hampton, Sunbury and East Molesey continue to have a reputation for being wealthy, middleclass areas, the work the churches are doing with referrals for people with acute needs grows and we pray for understanding from government locally and nationally that more should be done in predominantly wealthy areas with pockets of deprivation, where the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is so marked. We also pray for Hanworth as the rise in drug and gang-related crime has seen three shootings, one fatal in the first months of 2019, with concerns that there will be more. We pray that Hanworth Methodist Church should continue to be a beacon of hope in the community. PLEASE PRAY FOR: 1. That the work at Hanworth with its new coffee bar extension and centre manager would prosper provide a safe space on the Butts Farm Estate. 2. That volunteers would come forward to replace those who are feeling their age increasingly heavy upon them, many of whom have been leading projects for decades. 3. That the work of Baby Basics and The Extra Mile should continue to thrive in their support of young families and their relationship with statutory organisations that refer them.

The news today says that Prince Harry has returned to Canada. The Royal Family has endured a pretty challenging week or two and wherever your sympathies lie, this story will I feel run and run. In the past few days the idea of a warts and all interview with the Sussex couple has been mooted. Who knows what new insights that would bring to the surface? One thing is sure – the public exposure of the finer details of family life could be traumatic for all concerned. What does ‘no choice’ but to step back really mean? Family secrets are pretty powerful and can conceal a whole host of issues. Our safeguarding training at all levels emphasises the power of secrets to conceal abuse or other issues. Getting to the truth of what happened, who was involved and how can be challenging. Secrets can be bound up with a sense of loyalty, however misplaced, and a fear about what might happen next. There is an inclination not to rock the boat. There is no doubt a cost benefit calculation that’s being made as I write about what story Prince Harry might tell in due course. Today’s news also revealed plans to use polygraphs - lie detectors – in terrorist cases. The Minister of Justice spoke on TV news about their current use in domestic abuse and sex offender cases to try to get the truth about what might be going on in situations fraught with a complexity of competing desires and emotions. Not yet admissible in court, the evidence can be used to assist in risk assessment and prevention. As the church conducts its safeguarding business an enhanced ability to penetrate a wall of denial or disguised compliance would be helpful. For the moment it’s the skill of our teams that hopefully can make all the differences.

Sometimes, Lord God, life is hard. The cares of life and our troubled world can fill us with uncertainty and anxiety, and we find it hard to face the future. We long for peace – not just for ourselves – but for those around us, our churches and our world. Lord, enable us every day to recognise our need of you. May we live each day as people transformed by the wonderful surprise of Easter – when you changed what seemed the end into a new beginning and you turned what seemed to be the triumph of evil into the victory of love. May each new day bring to us, to our churches and to our world, new hope, new joy and new life. Sometimes, Lord God, life is hard – surprise us and transform us, for the sake of your Kingdom; in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen PLEASE PRAY FOR: 1. Please pray for our district, circuits and churches – for new opportunities for mission and service. 2. Please pray that all our churches are safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment for all. 3. Please pray that each of us may know we are valued and have a place within the life of our churches – all with something to offer to one another and something to receive. - Revd Dr Paul Hill Gracious Lord, We give you thanks, for your faithfulness over the past year, and we set before you the work of our district this connexional year. We give you thanks for all those who continue to support your work in the district through their time, prayer and finances. We ask for your blessing on the work of the staff in the District’ Office and on Revd Michaela Youngson, Revd Nigel Cowgill and Revd Jongikaya Zihle. May the work that we do in your name bring about your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. - Revd Faith Nyota

Drama documentaries on TV about abuse in the church must be like buses. None for ages and then two come along together, as was the case this week. Unless you have a catch-up TV option you will have had to choose on Monday evening between the story of Bishop Peter Ball or the Ben Field case in which two elderly people were groomed in their own church community. Both no doubt made for harrowing viewing. I will leave you as viewers to make up your own minds about what you saw. Early January in the Methodist Church is Covenant Sunday season and this service took place at my own church this last week. Our reading was from Acts and told the story of Paul and the earthquake, when he and his companion refused to leave the jail after the quake had broken the chains. But what was interesting to me was our minister’s take on the possessed slave girl whose ability to tell fortunes earned her owners a good living. Paul intervened in her case and the result was his detention. This was an early recorded example of trafficking and modern slavery. It demonstrated how unscrupulous people will exploit the situations and supposed ‘gifts’ of vulnerable individuals for their own lucrative gain, keeping the victim in abject conditions to protect their ‘property’ and investment. Publicity over the last year or two in the church has reminded us about the presence of modern slavery in our communities, and the Anglican-led Clewer Initiative has provided resources for us to use so that it can be more easily recognised and reported. But although not immediately obvious there is a link between the TV documentaries, modern slavery and Paul’s dramatic intervention. It is the exploitation of the vulnerable for seemingly selfish purposes and that in some cases, drawing attention to the issues or individuals involved is not always welcomed. We do well to join up the dots when we think in our training about the different types of abuse. There are common themes we should always recognise.

We bless your Holy name, O God, for your providence among your people. You have been our help in ages past and we will always continue to put our trust and faith in you for the future. When seasons of life come and go, Lord help us to keep focused on you. As each day passes, we experience different climate conditions. Some seasons bring warmth in our lives and cause us to smile- help us to always remember to be thankful for your blessings. However, some seasons leave us cold, weak and vulnerable- and may the Holy Spirit be our comfort and encourage us. Different seasons speak so clearly of your love, your power and your beauty. You are our God and we are your people. As individuals, church community, as a nation and as humanity Lord help us to put our hope in you in everything we do. Amen. PLEASE PRAY FOR: 1. We pray for the Urban Mission project and the work of the Deacon appointed for this special mission in the Alton Estate which is part of the Richmond and Hounslow Circuit in Roehampton. 2. We pray for the work of young people and children in our churches across the Circuit and for those who work with these groups, both paid and voluntarily. 3. We pray for a strong Circuit Leadership team, ordained and laity, who are guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, filled with grace and wisdom to lead the circuit towards fruitfulness and flourishing.

In January 1983 U2 released one of their most famous anthemic songs that catapulted them into their post-punk world rock domination incarnation. ‘New Year’s Day’ was a tribute to the Polish Solidarity Trade Union movement that at the time was challenging the established communist order, and in so doing became one of the early stepping stones towards the 1989 overthrow of a series of unpopular regimes in Eastern Europe. They followed it up in March the same year with another powerful song, ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’, which described the visceral scenes in Derry/Londonderry a decade earlier in January 1972. 1983 also saw a catastrophic Labour Party defeat at the general election. Led by Michael Foot, the party sunk to its then lowest level of representation which has now been at least matched. So 37 years on at the start of 2020 – the year of maximum and perfect vision – what does history tell us about our chances in the year ahead? It’s not within the brief of this column to be concerned with national and international concerns, although at the time of writing it’s hard not to be engaged with geo-politics and the suggested impact of climate change in Australia. Nor is the column going to try to link the lyrics of U2 songs to the safeguarding agenda you will be relieved to read! But there is something about the energy and power of music and simple words. The passion that speaks to the heart about family and homeland, peace, justice and security, and the lump in your throat when you sense that transcendence. Coming home from church on Sunday, Classic FM was playing an extract from the Karelia Suite by Sibelius, an elegy to that part of the country annexed by Russia in the 19th century. It was hard not to be moved, and we reflected on the Epiphany sermon we had just heard about travelling, hoping, anticipating and then knowing when you have arrived at a really important place. For the Methodist Church in 2020, arguably one of those places will be Conference, but for Safeguarding it will come earlier in the year, as we travel to and present our story at the IICSA hearings in mid-March. This will not necessarily be a comfortable homecoming, and we don’t know what we may find or how we might be found. But if we can collectively continue to demonstrate something of the passion for safeguarding that many of us have, the Church will be in a stronger and safer place as we travel the year.

We give thanks and pray in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer for His love and mercy to all people. We pray for the young people and homeless in Newham, who are struggling to turn their vision and purpose into reality. We ask that You would meet them at their point of need and enable them to rise above the stigma of negative labels, low self-esteem and self worth. May your Church offer support, encouragement and guidance to the young people and homeless of Newham and everywhere in this nation, enabling each one of them to flourish and be at peace within, rather than assume that they will stumble and fail. We ask this through our Savour and Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Dr. David Agyeman Mensah PLEASE PRAY FOR: 1. We give thanks to God and pray for Faith Leaders in the Borough of Newham who unite to hold weekly morning prayers, before God for the people of Newham to have the knowledge of God through Christ Jesus and work together in peace. 2. We pray also for the youth knife crime within the Borough which is also sweeping across the nation. May God who knows and sees all things please intervene and bring healing of peace and love to all people. 3. We thank God for Citizens U.K especially Newham branch who are striving to acquire empty lands and buildings to build affordable Homes for families in need of homes. May the good Lord give wisdom and discernment to those in authority to be just and fair in Christ’s name.

As the bells ring out and the fireworks fly, we welcome in a new year. In noise and joyful anticipation, many look forward to a new beginning. In silence and fearful anticipation, others dread all that is to come. Help us, God of new beginnings, to reflect on all that has gone before and prepare for all that is to come. Help us, God of new beginnings, to do better in facing our wounds, especially those we have inflicted on ourselves and on others. Help us, God of new beginnings, to be grateful for each new day, that we might make the most of the gifts that you have given. We pray that this year may be more peaceful and more just than the one that has gone before, and may we pay our part in making it so. For Christ’s sake. Amen.