Dear St Paul’s

In our sermons based on Jesus’ seven ‘I AM’ statements we have looked at his claim to be

the bread of life, and then the light of the world. Encapsulated in these two contrasting

images we have the earth and the heavens, the finite and transcendent, Jesus’ humanity

and his divinity. Over the next two sermons we are back on earth, out in the fields with the

sheep, immersed in the common yet essential role of sheep keeping. In John 10 we have

two ‘I AM’ statements in quick succession, which are linked together in their imagery. Jesus

first says ‘I am the gate for the sheep’ (v.7) and then ‘I am the good shepherd’ (v.11).

Shepherds were a common sight throughout the Greek-speaking world in the first century,

and they weren’t renowned for their gentility. Out in all weathers for weeks on end in the

wilderness, herding their flocks from pasture to pasture, personal hygiene was probably not

top priority, and the role was quite isolating, making them a bit cut off from civilised society.

In placing himself into this hard, disparaged role Jesus was identifying himself with an

underclass of his society. It also chimed with his listeners as figures like Moses and David

were remembered as shepherds and leaders of the Jewish people. Jesus was placing himself

in their shoes, saying that he, like these previous heroes of the faith, would lead his people

well. In likening himself to ‘the gate’, he was referencing the sheep pen, which the sheep

were counted into at night and out of in the morning. This provided a safe place for the

sheep from attacks from wild animals. A good shepherd, who really cared for his sheep,

would lie down across the entrance to the pen, and be on alert against attack. The shepherd

would bridge the gap, becoming the gate, and protect the sheep with his own life. This is

another powerful analogy, which describes Jesus’ character and mission.

The choice that we need to make is whether to trust Jesus at his word. He stands at the gate

and offers us a place of security, found through him. He promises to lead us to green

pastures and beside still waters, to restore our souls, and to keep nudging us along in those

dark valleys we go through.

God bless

Rev Emma

Application Criteria

Blue Coat School, Oldham is our nearest Church of England secondary school and there has been a history of a number of our young people choosing to apply to this school each year. It has a very stringent application system that is based on church attendance. For anyone with young children, however distant secondary school might currently feel, it is

worth thinking about options for the future, and, if Blue Coat is a consideration it is useful to understand its attendance criteria, especially as it is currently an oversubscribed school.

Unless you are a Looked After Child, in order to ensure you gain confidently gain a place, you are required to evidence five years attendance of minimum 39 services a year (or the stated reduced figure for the 2020/2022 pandemic season), as well as baptism into the Christian faith. There is then a descending order of attendance 

(see Blue Coat Admissions policy for more detail https://www.blue-coat.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/BCS-Admissions-Policy-Entry-2026-2.pdf) 

and the further down the list you are the less confident you can be of securing a place. It varies each year as to how far down the criteria list children are accepted. The form requires you to put your actual number of attendances going back to 2020.

Registering your child’s attendance 39 Sundays a year for 5 years is a lot of attendance. This means that from the beginning of Year 2, your attendance counts. Although I would love everyone to be coming to St Paul’s every week I do recognise that with all sorts of other pressures on our time, this is tricky. But would urge you to keep a realistic idea of how much you actually are attending as most people feel as if they are coming more than they actually do! To help me assess attendance more accurately and fairly, I introduced a sign in book when I arrived in 2016 although since reopening after lockdown we now keep a record of attendance at every church service which I also use to verify attendance for Blue Coat. I also include Messy Church attendance, which people signed into on arrival. If your child engages with Junior Church then this provides me with back up information on attendance. There is also clearly an expectation that your child will be baptised. This is frustrating as baptism does not equate with faith or commitment and it concerns me that children might feel pressured into making this important decision before they are sure about where they stand faith wise. Church of England advice is that ‘infant baptism’ stands up to the point where the child can clearly make their own faith decisions. This varies between ages 4 and 7. Beyond this age I would need to have a conversation with your child themselves as to whether accepting the Christian faith as their own, is something they genuinely want. Go with your conscience and don’t let your child feel under pressure to make a public faith commitment they don’t feel able to live up to.

Managing expectations

Coming to St Paul’s whilst wanting your child to attend Blue Coat can produce a difficult dynamic if not handled well. It is important to have honest conversations with your child about where they would like to go to secondary school and why, and also what they actually believe and why. We also need to prepare them for disappointment as getting into a secondary school of your choice can be so difficult. By doing this we can help our young people be more robust about their faith. My wish is to see our young people grow in self-confidence and in love of God, confident of their faith regardless of which school they end up in.