The month of June is a month of great Feasts: Corpus Christi, The Sacred Heart of Jesus, St John The Baptist; and for Brierley and Grimethorpe, the great feast of St Peter and St Paul – the two great apostles who were martyred in Rome, then the centre of the world.
St Peter recognised Jesus as the Divine Son of God; Paul is known as the teacher of the world. St Peter met his death for Christ by being crucified upside down, he was not worthy to die like his Lord and Paul, as a Roman citizen, was allowed to be beheaded by the sword.
Brierley was put under the patronage of St Paul to match up with the then Parish Church of St Peter, Felkirk. Since 2005, St Paul has become once again the companion of St Luke. You can read their stories in the Book of Acts, which was written by St Luke.
St Paul’s Church, Brierley, carried on the teaching work of St Paul, and this can be seen by the building of St Paul’s School, Brierley, early in the 20th Century. The present Brierley Church of England voluntary controlled school is owned by the Church, as are the school grounds – the school is NOT owned by the local education authority. To function as a church school, there must be a designated number of Christian Foundation Governors. If the local authority wished to own the school, it would have to buy the school and its grounds from the church.
For many people, the school may appear to be just another secular school set in the small village of Brierley, but this is not the case. The church, under trust deeds over one hundred years ago, wanted to ensure that the young in Brierley had a particular and purposeful Christian education. Because the school title has C of E (VC) in brackets, people can easily forget that it is a church school. There is greater choice in our society for parents these days particularly with regard to education. One of the sad things that I hear from parents when it comes to faith, and the practise of it, is them saying “We’ll let the kids decide, it’s their choice.” The reality is somewhat different in that the children are NOT given the choice – in that a choice can only be made out of experience. And, of course, if a child does choose to experience the Christian faith and grow in it, they must have support.
In the past five years, I have sought to strengthen the links between school and church; it is now much healthier and robust. And I hope that once again, the school in the community’s mind may see Brierley as ‘The Church School’. On the remaining wall, where Church Court is now built, you will see the 1916 inscription, ‘St Paul’s Church School, Brierley.’ It is my hope for the future that you do not rob Brierley, or the school, of their rightful Christian heritage and identity. What was true for St Paul two thousand years ago, must be true today or it was not true in the first place. St Peter and St Paul both died a martyr’s death, they would not have died for a lie, but only the truth, and the whole truth we see in the person of Jesus Christ.
Your Friend and parish priest,
Fr Peter Needham
July 2010
