Column by Harborough churches: Lockdown has afforded me an opportunity to slow down and to take stock

Viewpoint by Janet Smith, Chair of Churches Together in Harborough

Taking over as Chair of Churches Together in Harborough (CTH) did not happen as I had imagined it, but then life for us all continues in ways we had not dreamed of just a few months ago. Lockdown has afforded me an opportunity to slow down and to take stock.

It also coincided with my retirement, which I did not imagine would begin like this either! For me, ‘lockdown’ has an additional dimension to the way we all continue to experience it, largely in the confinement of our homes. For the past seven years I have volunteered with a Christian-based charity, working alongside prison chaplaincies in a range of activities. My specific role is to tutor ‘Sycamore Tree,’ a six-week course based on the principles of restorative justice and victim awareness, in which inmates voluntarily participate as part of their rehabilitation.

Prison life continues to be tough at present. It means that for inmates, there are no family visits. Religious services and faith–based events cannot take place. Work and education, normally providing a welcome rhythm and routine to prison life have stopped. Prison chaplains, representing all the major faiths continue to do a wonderful job as pastors in the most difficult and challenging of circumstances, supporting inmates and staff alike in meeting their spiritual needs, and I would like to pay tribute to them and their teams working across the prison estate at this time.

Unable to visit prison at present, I am preparing for the time when I can. Just this last week, I have completed online training with other tutors, digesting changes in the course content, to reflect best practice, so that when we are permitted to return we are, ‘the best we can be’. As the current restrictions on our normal routines begin to lift, we should not hesitate preparing for the time when we can fully resume those things that provide for each of us reasons to get out of bed in the morning and which help shape who we are.

For me, that means serving on the leadership team of the baptist church and the town’s churches in my new role, preparing to return to prison and having the time to discover new hobbies and interests in retirement.

I end with some inspiring words by Cardinal John Henry Newman, reminding us of our unique role in building God’s Kingdom. "God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another… I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons…. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I am here to serve you, to be yours, to be your instrument."

Janet Smith, Chair of Churches Together in Harborough

Information about all the churches in the Harborough area and how they are providing worship and practical resources during the lockdown can be found at their individual websites, each of which can be accessed through https://www.harboroughchurches.org.uk/churches/town.html