I felt quite nostalgic yesterday as we held the Summer Fun event in Phoenix Park. My involvement with the park was one of my first experiences of community work, back in the late 1990s and early years of the new century when the site was redeveloped from the former Hickleton Main Colliery. I worked with Groundwork Dearne Valley as a local resident volunteer on the development of the site, which was the first time I’d really been involved in community art on such a large scale. The various sculptures put up have stood the test of time well, looking good yesterday and helping us as Dearne Churches Together to run activities based around the sheep (we told the story of the Good Shepherd and the Parable of the Lost Sheep, did various sheep crafts and looked at Psalm 23) and the dinosaur (looking at how God made everything, including dinosaurs!)

The labyrinth feature in the park (which formed the basis of our meditation on Ps 23) is also dear to me, since my son’s footprints are cast into that.

Community art has obviously played an increasingly important role in my life in recent years, and it was good to have Barnsley Museums with us, discussing how to decorate Elmer the elephant in such a manner that was unique to Goldthorpe. I particularly liked this child’s answer to the question ‘What would bring more joy to Goldthorpe?’ – ‘chocolate trees!’

One of the main joys of community work is getting to work alongside others who share your passion for where you live. Interestingly, one of the staff at Groundwork Dearne Valley has now returned to work for the Dearne Area Team; it’s been a pleasure to renew my acquaintance with Jenny, whose sunny nature and hard work make her an invaluable colleague:

It’s also a sign of my age when one of my son’s contemporaries at primary school is now working with the Dearne Area Team as well and heavily involved with the Shaw Alliance, a local litter-picking force for good!

It’s been a pleasure to work with old friends and to make new ones as part of this collaboration, and my prayer is for these relationships to deepen and for us to be able to work together on other community projects. I’m so grateful for the other leaders and members of local churches who are so involved in their communities. It’s a pleasure to work with them all.