It was great fun posing as Henry VIII at Higher Walton School’s Tudor Banquet. I’m a little disturbed at how easily the mantle of power sat on me, but it will pass. You’ll make sure of that. No vicar keeps a sense of absolute power for long. And well done to all the KS2 children for getting into the swing of things, and a big thank you to all my wives.  

It’s an uncomfortable fact that our Church, the Church of England, began life as a political pawn, a means for Henry to achieve his dynastic aims and seize control of the wealth of the Church. Money and power. It’s a far cry from the simplicity and integrity of the life of Jesus, and his own take on power – for it was in powerlessness, alone and the hands of his enemies, that Jesus achieved his greatest victory, his triumph over sin and death on the cross.  

So who does the church belong to? We still have a Queen who is head of the Church of England (and who always manages to put in a plug for Christianity in her Christmas messages – thank you, Ma’am), it still, for the moment, has a unique place in English public life, and it is run on the principle of “led by bishops, run by Synod” – which gives everyone a say. That’s echoed at local level, where it’s led by the vicar, and run by the PCC – a rather better system of checks and balances.  

So who does All Saints’, Higher Walton belong to? All the following are true, one way or another:

• It belongs to me, for as long as I’m here
• Its valuables belong to the  Wardens for as long as they hold office
• It belongs to the people who make it their place of worship
• It belongs to the Bishop whose seat is here
• It belongs to the community in which it is set

 But most of all it belongs to Jesus, to do with as he pleases. If we ever lose sight of the fact that it’s his, that’s where things start to get out of balance. We can all have our likes and dislikes and preferences, but it’s better if we sit light on those and let Jesus have his way. I liked the opening bit of the Purpose Driven Life book, where it stated quite bluntly, “It’s not about you”. It’s all about the one we’re here to worship.