On Sunday we heard of the four boys who fell through the ice in a lake in Solihull, West Midlands. Yesterday we learnt that three had died and the fourth’s in a critical condition.
In TV interviews Superintendent Richard Harris from West Midlands Police described the first officer on the scene entering the lake in his uniform… Richard Stanton, area commander for West Midlands Fire Service, described the children receiving immediate life-support care from firefighters and ambulance colleagues.
Musing… Richard and Richard as leaders…
Angaelos, Archbishop of London’s Coptic Orthodox Church, has commended England Football manager Gareth Southgate. Reflecting on Gareth’s leadership he wrote:
True leadership:
🔹 is not about win or loss; it spires to win, but is gracious in all outcomes
🔹holds the team together with any outcome
🔹gives credit where it is due
🔹is reflective in defeat, but not berating of the victor or one’s own team
Pastor Mick Fleming’s ‘Church on the Street’ in Burnley first hit the headlines during Covid. It began with Mick standing outside his local McDonalds giving away coffee and clothes. He now has three centres in the North West of England ‘tackling poverty head on by providing a place for worship, clothing, food, conversation, love and support.’
Last week Mick spoke to students at Burnley College about his church: ‘It doesn’t look like a normal church when you walk in, we have the NHS working there alongside a mental health team, counsellors, hairdressers and more. We also provide hot food and showers – everything is free.’
…‘Pastor’ Mick… the Biblical image of the shepherd leader… Shepherd King David: ‘The Lord is my shepherd’… prophet Isaiah: ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd’… Christmas: ‘There were shepherds living out in the fields’… Jesus: ‘I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep.’
malcolmsmusings.org 