‘Letting go is hard, but we hope to leave a legacy of transformed communities’

Writing this last column for Reform had reminded me that letting go is always hard. There came a time when Jesus had to entrust the task of continuing his work to the disciples – whether they had really grasped the full impact of what he had been teaching them or not. Fortunately, over time, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, they not only understood, but developed and spread his message.

All of us face times of letting go. In the church-related community work programme we have fixed contracts, so we know when that time will be and can put an “exit strategy” in place, aiming to ensure that at least some of the activities with which we have been involved will be sustained. Perhaps more important, yet harder to quantify, is the legacy we hope to leave, of changed attitudes and transformed communities.

When reflecting on our work at our recent residential, the list of activities in which we engage was long and varied. Even more telling were the responses concerning: how we think the church benefits from our ministry, the impact of our work on the community, how we see ourselves, and what we would like to tell the wider church. …

Alison Micklem is a church-related community worker across the inner city group of United Reformed churches in Liverpool

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This is an extract from the July/August 2013 edition of Reform.

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