Page 3 - Moravian Messenger May 2021

After six years in post Anne Longfield gave her final address as Children's Commissioner for England on 17th February 2021. She has never beaten around the bush and has often challenged government, at all levels, and society about the way we treat our children, and although she worked in England I am sure many of her comments would also apply in the other home nations.
Her final report was a summary of where she sees the problems and difficulties put in the way of all children reaching their full potential. Two million children in England are affected by severe poverty, domestic abuse, parental mental health issues, parental substance abuse, having carer responsibilities and/or a parent in prison. Many have more than one these factors and still more children are affected by their own disabilities and the impact that has on their life chances.
She posed a whole list of questions for society to look at:
• How many families are struggling?
• How many children are already behind when they start school? • What is the scale of the help needed?
None of these have easy answers and the data is often spread over several Government departments, all working in their own area. She asks, 'Where is the joined-up thinking?' We know that combinations of vulnerabilities occur often and fixing one area does not fix the problem. Investment in one service may have an effect on another service but no one monitors this. Children are at the heart of economic success but by working in silos children are being failed. There is also the unspoken problem that payoff for investment in children may take many years, at least until they enter the workforce and it is challenging for Government to invest where the results may be seen in 20 or so years' time.
The impact of COVID-19 on our children has been immense and she spoke about this previously, but the pause the pandemic has created has given an opportunity for all services to look at what was being provided, and what is really needed, and her call is 'Build Back Better', putting children and their needs centre stage so that every child can achieve their full potential. She calls for 'a year of opportunity' and a national effort to reboot childhood, especially in the left behind areas. Government departments working together
to improve the lives of the children in England, with no more amendments here and there but changes thought through and the impact on families considered, including policies which may at first glance not directly affect children.
So how does this affect us as churches? What can we do? How do we fit in with this vision? We know we are all children of God and all of value to him, from the smallest child to the most mature person, and I know for some of you it seems as if we are always spending money on children and young people, but I call on you to now rethink that and focus on what you can do to improve the lives of the children in your community. I don't mean just those who come to church, but all children. What role does your church community play in the wider community? What are we as a Christian community doing to show God's love for all children? I'm not going to pretend this will be easy, it will not, or that everyone is equipped to do the work, but we all have gifts we can offer to serve the children, and families, around us. We have buildings that are under used, could they be opened for children's groups? What local charities are supporting families, can you get involved? We know about foodbanks and generally support them but what about other essentials, baby items, school uniform etc, could we be involved in setting up or supporting this, even if it is just to provide a distribution point. But most of all do we know what our community needs? It could be a support group for new parents, a toy library, support for parents of teenagers, or for those with additional needs. It could be a specialised club - for example a Lego club - built around children's interests. The impact these sorts of things have cannot be underestimated, a place to go where you are valued, where someone asks how you are you doing and is genuinely interested in the answer adds much to the lives of children and young people. There are so many opportunities to help, and so much work to be done, let us get on board and help 'Build back better'.
Sr Joy Raynor
Provincial Youth and Children's Officer
Full report can be seen at: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/building-back-better/ More reports can be found at: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/reports/
Worship on the Web - Evolving Engagement
Throughout the pandemic there has been a number of reports in the Moravian Messenger highlighting the journey that we have been on as we adapted and engaged with new ways of doing Church during the pandemic, especially online. Since March 2020, we have been exploring new platforms and trying different styles of content. As we return to Worship in our Church, buildings and lockdown restrictions begin to ease for the time being. So, this has been an opportunity for the Worship on the Web team to reflect on where we go from here and ensure that Church continues to be accessible to all.
Going forward we will begin to adopt a more hybrid approach. While
congregations resume worship in their local communities, the Province will continue to publish Sunday Worship on YouTube and Facebook (search: Moravian Church British Province). It will be available at 9am each Sunday and will normally be around 30 minutes long and can be accessed at any time. We are very grateful that we have had so many willing contributors over the last year, and if you know lay preachers or worship leaders who would be keen to take an online service, please contact Br James Woolford: james.woolford@moravian.org.uk.
A number of local congregations including Ockbrook, University Road and Kilwarlin are hosting hybrid services,
where worship in Church will be broadcast live on Facebook or Zoom.
We are still seeking new ways of connecting online for fellowship and going forward there will be a Provincial Prayer Meeting Online on the 1st Tuesday of every month at 1pm. This will be hosted on Zoom and the links will be sent to local congregations and posted online each month, or you can email me at: roberta.hoey@moravian.org.uk.
It would be wonderful to hear from you if you have ideas or feedback on how we can continue to engage, worship and minister together in the coming weeks and months ahead!
Sr Roberta Hoey
Provincial Board
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Building back better
- reflections on the final report of Anne Longfield, Children's Commissioner for England