THERE was a palpable sense of joy in Redditch on Saturday afternoon as the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby visited.
Fresh from holding talks with Pope Francis in Rome, he was on a three-day tour of the Diocese of Worcester and Dudley accompanied by Bishop John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester.
Despite a busy schedule he still had time to join in the parachute game with children in St Stephen’s Church before recounting the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter’s fear of drowning before putting his trust in God.
“When life gets really rough, Jesus comes to us and often we do not see who he is and we need to ask him for his help because when he is not here the storms are just unbearable,” he said.
He told the assembly: “What I see is there are lots of places like Redditch where life is pretty tough for people and in the storms of life, faith in Christ takes us to a place of peace, if not one of ease,” he said.
Council Leader Councillor Bill Hartnett spoke to the Archbishop of the diversity of Redditch and how it was welcoming refugee families from Syria.
“As well as the situation in Syria he was interested that down at town hall a conference was being held of the subject of tax evasion, and he agreed this was a major issue,” said Coun Hartnett.
Town centre chaplain and vicar of St Stephen’s Paul Lawlor added: “It’s been just marvellous to have this sense of joy about the town centre, he was speaking to everyone, and the challenge now is rather than say ‘well that’s done’ it’s how we build on this and keep the conversation going.
“People can have different views and it’s about discussing them in friendship and trust and the Church can help facilitate this.”
