Naomi Young-Rodas, minister of Christ Church, Rayleigh in Essex, explains how her creative juices got flowing, writing poetry during lockdown to support her local congregation.
A long time ago, I used to write poems and I have had some published in worship anthologies such as Courage to Love: An Anthology of Inclusive Worship Material and Entertaining Angels: A worship anthology on sharing Christ’s hospitality both edited by Geoffrey Duncan.
I haven’t written much poetry for years, but early on in lockdown, when we couldn’t go out anywhere except for one daily walk, I found myself writing again. The poems came spontaneously and, for the most part, I did not edit them. Some were funny, some linked to Easter, which fell in the first few weeks of lockdown, some referred to items in the news like the Barnard Castle incident and the killing of George Floyd.
An important part of our whole-of-life discipleship journey is understanding the role which worship can play in helping us to live out our faith in everyday life, especially in times when everyday life looks different. Adam Scott of Northern College explains how the sharing of knowledge and practice in worship has continued in the midst of lockdown:
Megan Tillbrook, Children and Young People’s Development Practitioner in Yorkshire Synod, explains how a cancelled young adults retreat was able to go ahead, despite lockdown, thanks to technology and a bit of creativity:
Clive Malcolm, Treasurer of Rodborough Tabernacle URC in Gloucestershire, explains how the initial shock of lockdown hasn’t stopped people Walking the Way of Jesus.
