Dear Friends,
Many of us have, or have had at some time or other, a football jersey from a favourite team pinned up on the wall. They’re a reminder of great moments from great players, and great games; sometimes encouraging us to keep going and spurring us on. If not a football shirt, perhaps it’s a jersey from a different sport – the maillot jaune – the yellow jersey of the Tour de France, the three lions or lionesses and the red rose emblem on England shirts, or the All Blacks jersey. And for those who wear these jerseys in the field of play, who represent their teams or country on the sports field, there’s a sense of pride, along with the hopes and expectations of so many on their backs.
‘Your role is to leave the jersey in a better place’, said Ali Williams, a former New Zealand All Black, the most successful sporting team on the planet. The book Legacy, by James Kerr reminds us that the reason the All Blacks jersey is so iconic is because of all the great sportsmen and women who have added to its reputation over the years. ‘There’s a rich tradition of players who have had that stewardship’, Williams continues, ‘to enhance the jersey and pass it on in a better state than what it was when you got it… to add to the legacy and to leave it in a better place.’ (The book is well worth a read if you’ve not yet read it.)
The attitude of leave the jersey in a better place is as central to the All Blacks’ way of doing things as it is for us in many different aspects of our lives; the sports teams and schools we’re part of, the organisation we work for, the societies we’re involved with, and even the church. This month in church we’re thinking about that old fashioned word stewardship, and what it means to us, for our worship and work together as we seek to leave the church, rather than the jersey, in a better place.
‘You don’t own the jersey, you’re just the person in the jersey at the time’, said another All Black legend. We all get the opportunity to wear the jersey for a while, to be part of a community whose past, present and future members, (whether at school, work or church) can work towards a better, kinder, and more hopeful place to be, and leave the jersey in a better place.
With love and best wishes,
Rev’d Ian Hepburn
Team Rector
Turton Moorland Team
