'With history, the key is bringing light to the darkness'

Perhaps it’s because as the leaves begin to turn and fall we have that sense of the year turning towards its close?

Or maybe it is because Autumn is a time when the Church traditionally remembers – with celebrations for All Saints, memorial services and of course Remembrance in November.

We are thinking of times gone by and remembering the past a lot this time of year.

Writer Brené Brown said "our histories are never all good or all bad and running away from the past is the surest way to be defined by it. That’s when it owns us. The key is bringing light to the darkness – developing awareness and understanding".

At Parish Church from October 1 to October 15  we are hosting a striking photography exhibition examining the Church of England’s relationship with the Trans-Atlantic slave trade called ‘Slavery and Repentance’.

(Image: St Helens Parish Church)

There is a film and discussion evening that is part of it, showing a film called ‘After the Flood’ on Friday, October 4.

The exhibition, initially housed at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool is on tour, and we are one of just four churches to host it.

There is much to be learned from the past – our collective history, and our personal histories, are rich sources of experience, inspiration and pride – and this is important as we engage in the many acts of remembrance this season brings.

However, the past is not a perfect country, and we do no one any good by idealising it. We must allow ourselves to be challenged to look back without the rose tint of nostalgia and acknowledge mistakes and injustices.

That is what this exhibition aims to do – to recognise that our past is not perfect, that as an institution the Church played its part in sinful injustice.

We welcome the light – of truth, humility and repentance – and as it pierces the darkness and develops better awareness and understanding of our past it gives us hope for a brighter future.