Back to School

Norris Green is an area of Liverpool made up of a large housing estate and known, sadly, for its social problems and gang culture. Not quite the place you would have expected Kathryn and me to go to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary, but we had gone to visit our friends Helen Edwards and her husband, Andrew.

Helen, a Liverpudlian, is Vicar of Christ Church, Norris Green, and was my curate in Beverley from 2001 to 2005. The two places could hardly be more different but Helen is richly gifted and has won immense respect in her diocese and beyond for the work she has done at Christ Church. The parish church was closed soon after she arrived, and subsequently demolished, and the congregation now meets in the local community primary school. 


'Church in School' is a model that interests us very much in neighbouring Manchester Diocese, where we have an excess of church buildings that often prove impossible to maintain, and more church schools than any other diocese. A number of congregations have transferred to a local school when their building had to be closed and we are eager to make the most of the mission opportunities this brings. Our visit to Christ Church was an opportunity to see a growing school congregation at first hand and learn more about the ministry of the church, which is effectively engaged with the local community.

We enjoyed a relaxed service of Holy Communion, by no means informal, but relevant to the people of Norris Green and their lives. Candidates who had been confirmed the previous week were welcomed, interviewed, and presented with a Bible at the front, and  the congregation prayed hard for their summer play scheme which was to start the following day. As soon as the service was over everyone got to work making preparations for the influx of children from the estate.


Over coffee we met some of the members of the congregation. The 'old hands' spoke freely of how they had overcome the sorrow and fears of losing their church building, and were altogether convinced that worship in the church had enabled them to grow. Newcomers spoke of how they had found their way much more easily into the school than they could ever have done into a traditional church. One woman had joined the church via a regular 'knit and natter' group that Helen had established. She made a telling comment that since she had belonged to Christ Church she felt more secure in the neighbourhood because she realised that there were good people in the neighbourhood after all. It was a happy church family, where people obviously appreciated and cared about one another. It was a joy to find it in Norris Green, and a reminder of how important it is to look behind the reputations that communities are given by the media and others.

We spent the afternoon with Helen and Andrew (who is Vicar of a nearby parish himself), with an excellent lunch in a restaurant in the city and then a walk along the redeveloped waterfront. The sun was shining, the 'three graces' basking in its warmth. The crowds of locals and visitors alike were enjoying themselves. Bradley Wiggins had won 'Le Tour'. After the dismal end to the week in Chesterfield it was a restorative day.


For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2  Corinthians 4:6