With the clocks turning forward at the weekend, the sun making an appearance and the daffodils out in full force, spring has well and truly sprung in the diocese.
For farmers, and our rural communities, the sights and sounds of spring are also the product of their toil and time, which is revealed in God’s creation and the celebration of new life – no lovelier that than of the lamb.
Bishop Saju recently joined Canon Malcolm Britton and around 150 other people from the farming communities and surrounding villages of Melton and Loughborough in an ecumenical ‘lambing service’ at Hall Farm in Brooksby, near Melton.
Now in its 17th year, the annual service has become a regular fixture in the rural calendar, taking ‘church’ out of the building and into the heart of the countryside, where people live and work.
As someone who has sat up at Hall Farm every other night during lambing time for the 25 years - when he was a lecturer in agriculture at the former Brooksby Agricultural College and also a reader in the local church - Canon Malcolm felt called to extend this worship out into the community for all to receive.
He can give a long list of reasons this service is so beneficial, including providing an all-age event that worships our creator God in the countryside with evidence of new life around us; sharing a message and experience with a diverse gathering of people, some of whom are not regular worshippers; answering questions on the sheep flock and farming in general; and raising money for charity - this year £350 was sent to the Farming Community Network.
With the kind cooperation of the Brooksby Campus of SMB College Group, the lambing service is also a timely opportunity for members of local Anglican and Methodist churches to come together and, this year, welcomed a large contingent from Loughborough Methodist Circuit, which is shortly to merge with the Melton Methodist Circuit.
As well as holding the lambs, during the service Bishop Saju offered the absolution, preached and gave the blessing.
Canon Malcolm said: “To have the Bishop of Loughborough and the Superintendent Minister of the Loughborough Methodist Circuit, Revd Karen Beecham, taking part in the service this year was particularly appropriate. Bishop Saju has an affinity with people (and apparently with sheep) of all ages, so we were delighted to welcome him back for the second time.”