October 2002

The names of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have joined the sad litany of children whose abuse and murder have commanded the horrified attention of the whole country – and beyond. We hardly needed the reminder of the wickedness of the human heart. As churches in an already difficult child protection climate we may have found already that some non-church parents are more wary about their children coming to various activities.

A message left in one of the on-line books of condolence probably reflects quite accurately the impact the case has had: ‘No story since Diana's death has elicited so many comments and professions of sympathy from ones friends, work colleagues, and neighbours.’ Developing throughout the school holiday period, it was a news story we all had more time than usual to keep up to date with.

The thoughts of many of us will have turned to the friends at Soham Baptist Church, whose pastor, Richard Underwood, is a previous sub-editor of this magazine. He tells me that it is too early as yet to comment on recent events with a proper perspective. The quotations below are taken with permission from a leaflet distributed by the church to every household in Soham to mark the occasion of harvest.

‘We’ve just marked the anniversary of September 11th. The terrible images etched into our minds forever from New York and Washington have reminded us of the suffering of so many people - the victims and their families who are still living with the tragedy today. Over the summer, we’ve been drawn into a tragedy of our own. And the one question that has haunted us over the past few difficult weeks is why? Why should tragedy visit this harmless little community in the Fens? We’re used to harsh realities biting elsewhere but why here? If two young children can’t be safe in Soham, where can they be safe? And if they can’t be safe with folk from school, who can they be safe with?’

Folk religion
‘The parish church has become a kind of shrine where people are congregating to lay flowers and light candles… Times like this expose just how far our society has drifted from God and we’re facing a kind of folk religion that seeks comfort where there isn’t any.’ Let us pray that at Soham and elsewhere people will be led to find real comfort and peace with the living God.

All have sinned…
It seems clearer than ever that our society has no explanation for the wicked acts people commit. ‘Deeply saddened. Completely bewildered’ was a succinct and representative comment from someone who left a message of condolence. God is seen as benign but helpless in the face of evil.

‘We have chosen to abandon living God’s way and try to work out the rules of life for ourselves. The results have been catastrophic. Instead of enjoying the love and peace and joy we’re all looking for, we have opened ourselves up to violence and hatred and a myriad of perversions… By drifting away from God and settling for material rather than spiritual prosperity, we have opened the door to the kind of tragedy we experienced this summer.’

The anger felt against Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr is understandable, but so often in cases like this where children are the victims a too rigid (and convenient) distinction is made between ‘them’ – the nasty, evil ones - and ‘us’ – the nice, decent, law-abiding ones. This distinction has been blown apart in the Soham case by the news that Brian Stevens, the police family liaison officer attached to the Chapman family, faces two charges of making an indecent image of a child under the age of 16, and one offence of inciting the distribution of such an image. His colleague Anthony Goodridge, an exhibits officer, has been charged with similar offences. Many are asking, Who can be trusted?

In recent years the ‘naming and shaming’ of paedophiles by the News of the World has encouraged vigilante mobs to hound men from their homes (not infrequently with the wrong person being attacked). The same paper urged readers to sign a petition to expose ‘the 110,000 perverts still on the loose in Britain’. Which is to conveniently ignore the fact that there are in fact 58 million sinners at large in Britain. Are the crimes of paedophiles inherently more abhorrent to God than other sexual sins committed by many of those who protest against paedophiles? Jesus’ words in the case of the woman caught in adultery are surely relevant here: He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first (John 8:7).

… being justified freely by his grace
Ian Huntley, Maxine Carr, officers of the Cambridgeshire police force, residents of Soham and especially the families of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman – all are in need of the gospel of saving grace. In the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God they can be washed, sanctified, justified (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Members of Soham Baptist Church have been involved in talking to many people visiting the parish church and have ensured that there is plenty of suitable gospel literature available in St Andrews and at other strategic points in the town. Scripture Gift Mission provided a truckload of literature. They have been meeting to pray twice each day, encouraging the church to be the focal point in town for Christians who wish to pray together. Richard Underwood is involved in a counselling team and Cecil Bassett the church’s evangelist and others are moving quietly round the community sharing the gospel with people in their homes. Richard is a governor of Soham Village College and particularly needs our prayers in that demanding role at the moment.

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