Stories and news from our lives and work in Nine Elms
Pan London Churches Serious Violence Summit
Published on
by
Ruth Turner
This is what the Lord says: “A sound was heard in Ramah. It was painful crying and much sadness. Rachel cries for her children. And she cannot be comforted, because her children are dead!” Jeremiah 31:15
What can my Church do? What can the wider Church do?
Violence rose by 20% in this last year and not just in London. Causes are complex but poverty, mental health, government spending and social exclusion all contribute.
Sophie Linden (Deputy Mayor for Crime and Policing) thanked us as Churches for the work we are doing with the families affected by murder.
Revd Les Isaacs OBE (founder of Street Pastors) commented that one of their key successes is removing weapons from the streets. We as Church are good at social justice, yet 119 people lost their lives this year.
Last week I went into a meeting at The Venue, with an empty shopping bag. At 1pm every Wednesday food that would otherwise go to landfill is distributed to anyone who comes.
But there was no food.
Waste Not Want Not was started by Hadas on the Doddington and Rollo Estate. She relies on a volunteer driver to go with her to the New Covent Garden market at 6.30 am to pick up surplus fruit and vegetables. The volunteer was ill and couldn’t go.
I have a car, should I volunteer or not? People were relying on the food being there so I delayed my meeting and went for my car.
On 20th October nearly 30 artists and creatives gathered at St George’s Church for a morning exploring how arts and creativity can enhance worship, support social justice initiatives and increase community flourishing.
I was at a meeting for the Doddington/Rollo Estates about the murder of Ian Tomlin. People were angry and frustrated. One woman checks her corridor every school day to make sure she doesn’t take her 4-year-old past a dead body.
The person chairing had a difficult job. One woman behind me spoke and then shouted at him:
‘Don’t shut me down – don’t shut me down’ and I thought of a passage in the Bible.
Blind Bartimaeus’ cry in Mark 10:47 – ‘Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me!’. Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet…
Have you ever been in a situation where you have been ignored, hushed up or talked over? I have and I tend to shut up.
What does Blind Bartimaeus do? but he shouted all the more ‘Son of David, have mercy on me’.
When people try to stop us speaking what do we do? Each one of us has a voice – what are we doing with it?
The harvest meal organized by the Nine Elms on the Southbank and hosted at the Rose Community Centre was my first community social gathering since moving onto the Patmore Estate in August and I really appreciated the opportunity to come along, meet people from the area and eat delicious vegetarian food prepared by Be Enriched.
Rev Betsy Blatchley started the evening with an alternative grace, a short reflection for us to express gratitude for all that goes into bringing the food to our plates: from the source of creation; to the farmers and supply chains; right down to those who had cooked the food for us this evening. Voicing a simple ‘Thank You’ provided an inclusive way of starting the evening together in the spirit of harvest thanksgiving.
Highlights from the evening included being impressed by the young people’s persistence (and willingness to get pretty wet) in the impossible game of apple bobbing, and meeting local residents like Sheila, sharing pictures of the rescue dog she was hoping would fill the gap left by the loss of her last dog. Our table came together around the harvest festival quiz, where Alastair, from New Covent Garden Market, was able to assist with identifying different varieties of apples and I tried not to give too much away around the questions that the Battersea Fields Team had contributed on harvest festival and the bible. I met people like Harry and Marion, who chair the Savona Residents Association, Glenn who runs the Rose Centre, Kemi Akinola the founder of Be Enriched.
What I took away, along with the small pot of apple crumble, was a sense of warmth and friendliness, of people who are committed to this area, and of the importance of food and festival at the heart of any community.
