From the Pen of Rev Steve
Recent copies of the minister's letters from Rev Steve.
These are reproduced from the monthly Newsletter.
April 2025: The Story of Emily
This is traditionally a moment when I write about Easter, perhaps focussing on the difficulties that Jesus had to face especially in that final week, or to align our reflection with the culmination of it all from Easter Sunday. Whilst I am not overtly talking about Easter I think the content below resonates with the ethos of this season, albeit from an historical context.
When returning from some time away in Cornwall, I came across a new building that has been shortlisted by the Royal British Institute of Architecture in a little place called St Ives. Quite different from the popular seaside resort in Cornwall, but a small place just the other side of Plymouth. Whilst the architecture is worth viewing, even in its modern brutalist stance, on reading the purpose of the structure the story intrigued me. It houses a little known museum entitled “The Story of Emily”
Emily Hobhouse lived between 1860 and 1926. The Wikipedia entry on her states that she was a “British welfare campaigner, anti-war activist, and pacifist. She is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the deprived conditions inside the British concentration camps in South Africa built to incarcerate Boer and African civilians during the second Boer war”. She was branded a “hysterical woman” and a “traitor” but she refused to be silenced, saving thousands of Boer women and children. The museum’s website states that “She didn’t just speak out - She published damning reports, led social reforms, and single-handedly challenged an empire at war. In an era that silenced women, Emily Hobhouse roared with truth and defiance”.
Emily herself, in 1913, said “Be merciful towards the weak, the down-trodden, the stranger”. Something of her upbringing shaped who she became. Her father was an Anglican priest and her brother and second cousin were prominent peace activists. Her courage against the perceived wisdom of the day is exemplary.
A current theologian that I admire greatly is Walter Brueggemann and I have several of his books. One of his shorter tomes is entitled ‘Interrupting Silence’. In the explanatory note on the back page the publisher says, “Interrupting Silence illustrates that the Bible is filled with stories where marginalised people break repressive silence and speak against it. Examining how maintaining silence allows the powerful to keep control, Brueggemann motivates readers to consider in their lives where they need to either interrupt silence or be part of the problem, convincing us that God is active and wanting us to act for justice”.
I find the story of Emily terribly inspiring and when I get an opportunity I will visit the museum. However, it also leads me to say that Easter is not only an historical event but impacts on our here and now. We can make choices to bring resurrection life to situations that seem dead and forgotten. Silence can be beautiful but when it is used to oppress and silence others then it is nothing but destructive.
May our communities know resurrection life this Easter and beyond of our Lord.
Blessings to you all,
Steve
When returning from some time away in Cornwall, I came across a new building that has been shortlisted by the Royal British Institute of Architecture in a little place called St Ives. Quite different from the popular seaside resort in Cornwall, but a small place just the other side of Plymouth. Whilst the architecture is worth viewing, even in its modern brutalist stance, on reading the purpose of the structure the story intrigued me. It houses a little known museum entitled “The Story of Emily”
Emily Hobhouse lived between 1860 and 1926. The Wikipedia entry on her states that she was a “British welfare campaigner, anti-war activist, and pacifist. She is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the deprived conditions inside the British concentration camps in South Africa built to incarcerate Boer and African civilians during the second Boer war”. She was branded a “hysterical woman” and a “traitor” but she refused to be silenced, saving thousands of Boer women and children. The museum’s website states that “She didn’t just speak out - She published damning reports, led social reforms, and single-handedly challenged an empire at war. In an era that silenced women, Emily Hobhouse roared with truth and defiance”.
Emily herself, in 1913, said “Be merciful towards the weak, the down-trodden, the stranger”. Something of her upbringing shaped who she became. Her father was an Anglican priest and her brother and second cousin were prominent peace activists. Her courage against the perceived wisdom of the day is exemplary.
A current theologian that I admire greatly is Walter Brueggemann and I have several of his books. One of his shorter tomes is entitled ‘Interrupting Silence’. In the explanatory note on the back page the publisher says, “Interrupting Silence illustrates that the Bible is filled with stories where marginalised people break repressive silence and speak against it. Examining how maintaining silence allows the powerful to keep control, Brueggemann motivates readers to consider in their lives where they need to either interrupt silence or be part of the problem, convincing us that God is active and wanting us to act for justice”.
I find the story of Emily terribly inspiring and when I get an opportunity I will visit the museum. However, it also leads me to say that Easter is not only an historical event but impacts on our here and now. We can make choices to bring resurrection life to situations that seem dead and forgotten. Silence can be beautiful but when it is used to oppress and silence others then it is nothing but destructive.
May our communities know resurrection life this Easter and beyond of our Lord.
Steve
From the Pen of Rev Steve
Be merciful towards the weak, the down-trodden, the stranger