Page 2 - Moravian Messenger May 2020

Editorial
Seventy-five years ago, on the 8th May this nation celebrated Victory in Europe Day. The planned long weekend of celebrations this May has been abandoned, as have so many of our other plans for the immediate future. But we still have the opportunity to reflect on what unfolded 75 years ago as the Allied armies moved across Europe; what they found and what was revealed to the rest of the world - bombed cities, concentration camps and the mass movement of peoples as refugees. Of course VE day did not mark the end of the Second World War, that did not happen for another four months on 2nd September after the dropping of two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It took years to recover from the worldwide trauma of that war. The economies of many countries were shattered by the war effort and in the UK, rationing was harsher in the years following the war than during the war. The final instalments of Britain's war debt to the United States and Canada were not made until 2006. The world that emerged from the war was quite different from that which went into the war.
Now we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic where no country is spared, and many lives have already been lost. Further, economists are already saying that we will be entering a period of depression when we come out from the lock down and that our way of living will be impacted for some time to come. Once again, the world ahead of us will be different from the world that went into this pandemic.
We had planned to use Bishop Shawe's letter in the Moravian Messenger of 1945 for the May Messenger 2020 before we went into lock down. Reading it now in the context of COVID- 19 it is just as relevant now as it was 75 years ago. We believe that there is an end in sight for the pandemic and there will be a time of thanksgiving to God in our Churches as well as for services of commemoration for those who have died
during the lock down. We will have cause to honour all those who have worked on the front line, not in war this time but in the care homes, clinics and hospitals and community care.
As a Church we have had to adapt quickly, and it has been wonderful to see how imaginative and flexible ministers and congregations have become. This will be invaluable for the Church going into the future as we consider how we, as a small Church structure our worship and activities in years to come. The online space is a place for us all where we can connect and worship. But as Bishop Shawe said 75 years ago we will need renewal and believing evangelism in which minsters and lay people share so that we move from outside our cosy space online to those who still need to hear of the love of God for his world and all that dwell therein.
Bishop Shawe reminds us of the needs of other nations and the call to rebuild. We have a well-developed health care system but how hard this pandemic will be for countries with less capacity for support and less developed health care for the poor. People living in refugee camps across the world could suffer worst of all. International Aid will be needed, in terms of charities and government aid. If this pandemic is not tackled on a worldwide scale, then it will not only harm people on a terrible scale across the world
but will slow down world economic recovery. Now is the time for generosity and perhaps a new version of the Marshall plan. Shawe said 'Our necessities will be supplied, but we must forgo luxuries lest other nations starve' and these words are still true after 75 years.
May God be with us in this hour and in all
hours.
Sr Sarah Groves
Editorial Team
Letter to the Editorial Team
Book review:
Using Christian Contemplative
practice with children
Although this book concentrates on practices which are suitable for
children it would be of use to anyone looking for more
contemplative practices whether leading adults and children or for personal use. It gives a
background of the history of children's work in the church, as to why children need stillness and these practices, and the history of contemplative practice in Christianity. The second part of the book is a 'how to' including chapter on using the outdoor spaces, meditation, movement, art and creativity words, stories, using stations - enough ideas to give you something fresh every week for a year! Using such a range means that there will be something to suit anyone.
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1-785921-662-4 Softback £14.99
Now that the issue of UK child poverty is on its way to Parliament via Catherine West M.P. I have written to the PEC looking at a second of our British mission statements.
The integrity of creation should be paramount in Christian thinking what with the issue of global warming and climate change. The massive loss of the lungs of our earth, Australian forest fires and the constant cutting down of the Amazon rainforest are a crisis for humanity.
The Woodland Trust Charity plants thousands of trees per year however they have a campaign to plant one million more. I have written to the PEC to bring a proposal to 2020 Synod for our Church to join the WTC in this endeavour. They in turn have written to the Mission and Society Committee.
Will you support such a cause for our future generation? If so, ask your Church Committee to send such a proposal to Synod.
Yours in the interest of the integrity of creation, Br Alan Holdsworth.
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© Sr Sarah Groves