The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues 1 Unemployment
The Lord answers prayer two years later.
In 2012 a word of scripture by a member of the congregation was given to me after the evening service.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with, He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. . . . .That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 15.
Update – Rawtenstall Job Club now on ‘Facebook’
May 20th One Jobseeker found job.
May 10th 2016 I now find myself Manager of the CAP Rawtenstall Job Club. Almost finished this updated first course, it’s a really good course that gives confidence to the jobseeker.
On the 3rd December 2014 ‘Rawtenstall Job Club’ a branch of Christians Against Poverty opened at St Mary’s. The people who are coming to it I believe will find jobs that are rewarding, enjoyable and fulfilling. Praise the Lord!
The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues 1 Unemployment
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26. John 17: 6-19
If we had an interview with Jesus to become his disciple what qualifications do you think would be required?
Answer: Faith in Jesus, faith to believe in his word, the words that identify him as the Saviour of the world.
When Jesus chose his disciples he spent all night praying into the situation as he sought his Father’s guidance as to who he should choose. Even then it is quite probable that Jesus knew that one of them would betray him.
In the interview in our sketch both men had sufficient qualifications, but in some respects it depended on the interview on the day, how they came across. (St. Mary’s Players)
Today those seeking employment may present a very good CV and if they are granted an interview they know it will depend on the impression they make on the day. Today 67,000 people live in the Rossendale Valley there are 33,000 people eligible for work, but there are only 23,000 jobs which is not enough, there are 10,000 people unemployed, just over 5,000 cannot work for various reasons, the remaining are unemployed.
We Christians can make a difference to these figures by praying to our ascended Lord Jesus for his help.
This Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ ascension into heaven, he returned to where he was before he entered the world and was born of a woman. He is seated with his Father in heaven at his right hand. From this position Jesus is able to pour out his blessings on his church. Before his ascension he instructed his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
After Jesus’ ascension the early church came together to pray and as a result of praying for 10 days the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. They went and shared their faith in Jesus amongst those who where in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of the First Fruits, the wheat harvest. They proclaimed the word of the fulfilled prophesies concerning Jesus’ death and resurrection and of his return, bringing in and establishing the kingdom of God in Jerusalem.
“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by his holy prophets from of old.”Acts 3: 17-21
The followers of Jesus were expecting his return, Jesus himself had this expectation when he had early stated, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” Mark 9: 1.
What were the things concerning the Kingdom that Jesus taught during the period before his ascension?
It is more than likely, that he had instructed his apostles to come together and form a church. Jesus used this word when in conversation with Peter. “On this rock I will build my church.” Matthew 16: 18.
The believers came together and pooled their recourses into a common purse, as a result they had food for stomach and their soul and the people who were sick amongst them were healed through prayer. The joy that there must have been amongst them, as they glorified the risen, ascended Lord.
It must have seemed as if the window of heaven had been opened everybody who joined them their needs being met. Gone were the days of standing around waiting to be hired by the vineyard owner or begging on the streets for money to buy food.
Doing the research for today, I’ve found it very interesting how the Rossendale Valley has been blessed by the Lord in the past. The woollen and the cotton industry bringing prosperity to these valleys and even when the cotton industry was declining a new one emerged. Christians who prayed at the time, their prayers were answered by the raising up a Christian man, a Baptist Henry Whittaker Trickett, his slipper and shoe business impacted the world.
Through the introduction of felt manufacturing at Mirtle Grove Mill. The block printer workers using felt remnants wrapped them around their feet, to avoid spoiling the work as they walked on pieces of felt. This was the start of making crude slippers.
John Rothwell began to produce slippers changing the use of a cotton mill in the 1870’s, but it was Henry Trickett who came to the fore and excelled in it.
He was a Godly man, the Holy Spirit appointed him to spear head huge, gigantic industry. Henry Trickett regularly gathered his salesmen together on Waterfoot Station where they prayed before they set off for London and beyond.
Several people belonging to our church have their own businesses, this has given them the opportunity, to make known their faith in Jesus through their businesses, by supporting faith activities in the wider community.
Every person who comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, the window of heaven is opened and the Lord blesses us in every way.
“Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers or sisters or mothers and children and lands, with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10:29, 30.
The lord was also doing something amongst the Churches during that period of the slipper boom. An outreach from St. Mary’s; In 1860 St. John’s Church Cloughfold came into being through a Sunday School starting in a room over a shop and in 1870 a mission took place in a warehouse over a foundry at Constable Lee, and that was the start of St. Paul’s church. Rev Norris during a ten year period in the 1880’s moved St. Mary’s Church Tower from the end of the Nave to the side of the church facing south and also added a gallery.
This prosperity continued at its peak in the 1920’s the predominant manufacturer was Lambert Howarth Group, Brian tells me that there were between 50 and 60, 000 people employed in the Valley making slippers and shoes, the Valley was booming. 10 million pairs of shoes in a year left Lambert mills to destinations across the world.
However the shoe industry has passed through some difficult years. It survived the depression in the 1930’s and the war years. The industry was still thriving until the 1980’s. I remember when we came to live in the Valley I noticed all the shoe business signs: manufacturers, wholesalers and retail. Sadly since then the industry has declined and there is little sign of the industry today.
We do have growing businesses in the Valley, and by the grace of God the 5,000 unemployed people will get employment soon.
As Christ’s representatives we pray for the people who live and work in this valley, our hearts cry out to our Lord God in prayer for new initiatives to produce jobs for all who live in the Rossendale Valley.
Let us pray:
First of all we give thanks for the item of news in our local newspaper announcing that 100 apprentice jobs that have been found for the young unemployed.
We pray for those who are preparing their CV for an interview this week, that they would chose their words carefully and honestly.
For those who have had a lot of interviews and are still without a job, may they be successful on their next interview.
For those who worried about losing their job, especially were they are totally reliant upon their wage coming in.
For those who are making people redundant because of lack of orders.
For those starting new businesses, the help they need, for doors to open as they make their way forward.
We look forward to a job for every person that brings satisfaction in every way, the wages supplying all their needs.
We give you thanks and praise dear Lord for we know that you always hear our prayers when we ask in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour Amen.
Evening Service Part 2 Isaiah 61 Luke 4: 14-21
The harder the struggle the more we become dependent on the Lord our God.
Under Roman occupation the Jewish people were looking for the coming of the Messiah to release them from the and establish God’s kingdom with its promise of peace and prosperity under God’s rule. Times were hard for all who lived under occupation and probably repressive,”The Roman taxation which bore upon Israel with such crushing weight, was systematic, cruel, relentless, and utterly regardless.” Ungers Bible Dictionary.
Jesus’ message looked not to what the Romans were about, he came to set people free from the overburdening laws that had been added to the laws of Moses. He was embracing the outcasts bringing them back into the fold.
The church in Rossendale
The Commonwealth Church Survey in 1650 recorded three hundred families in Haslingden and the three hundred in Newchurch in Rossendale as ‘lamentably poor – too poor for a minister’. (Two churches were in existence St. James Haslingden established in 1284 and St. Nicholas Newchurch established 1511) There was also a change going on in the communities, due to the mechanisation of the cotton industry. This caused great distress on a huge scale amongst the hand loom weavers.
The Hand Loom Weavers
Hand loom weaving is an ancient skill going back centuries. Cotton weaving came to England in the 16th century when Dutch and Flemish weavers, refugees from religious persecution, came to East Anglia. They later settled in south and east Lancashire and established, as a domestic or ‘cottage’ industry, the manufacture of fustian cloth. By the end of the century cotton weaving and spinning began to oust the traditional domestic woollen industry of Lancashire.
The typical hand loom weaver of Lancashire was an independent craftsman and most of his working life centred on his farm or cottage. He owned his loom and worked his own hours to supplement farming or other work. The preliminary operations of carding and spinning the yarn ready for weaving were performed by the women and children of the household. A single loom needed the efforts of five or six people to prepare the yarn.
The term ‘Heir loom’ originates from the ‘Home loom’ that was passed on to the next generation. Another familiar term ‘Spinster’ in preparation for marriage a woman spun her linen sheets and other items.
In the 18th Century the hand loom weavers who lived in the Rossendale Valley England were confronted with great changes as a result of new inventions of machinery.
1733 John Kay Walmersley, Bury invented the ‘Flying shuttle.’
(John Wesley came to Rawtenstall in 1761 and established churches.)
1765 James Hargreaves Spinny Jenny Below picture of Spinny Jenny
1769 Richard Arkwright Water Frame.
1779 Samuel Crompton ‘the Mule’ a stronger finer threads several hundred spindles.
These inventions brought prosperity to the hand loom weavers.
Factories sprung up producing yarn for the hand loom weavers. Many more farmers became weavers they turned their outbuildings into loom shops. These were supplied with yarn by the middle man the ‘putter out’ The hand loom weaver, particularly in remote moorland areas, had neither time or transport to get his own yarn or sell his own cloth direct. The manufacturer of the yarn controlled the market. This period of prosperity soon came to an end in 1812.
Edmond Cartwright invented ‘Power Loom.’
Weavers started to undercut each other; as a result many were out of work.
The Rossendale Weavers were stubborn, proud of their heritage and demanded justice, but their situation grew worse.
40,000 signed petition for a minimum wage, it was ignored by the government.
Many weavers turned to Radicalism and reform of the House of Commons as a means of political action.
16th August 1819 a public meeting was held to consider the best means of reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws was to be held in St. Peter’s Field, Manchester. Henry Hunt, the well known Radical and orator was to address the meeting. An estimated 60,000 men, women and children from all of the manufacturing towns attended. However the County Magistrates were determined to arrest Hunt and disperse the assembly. The Cheshire Yeomanry Cavalry swept, with drawn sabres, through the packed field to arrest Hunt and his companions. In the ensuing onslaught and panic eighteen people were killed and hundreds injured. The tragedy was quickly doubed, in derision, the Battle of Peterloo. Peterloo left a legacy of even deeper bitterness throughout Lancashire.
The government’s policy of ‘change job’ and they absolved themselves of all responsibility.
Manchester Courier wrote, “The road around Padiham crowded with famished wretches, begging. Unless relief is offered to them, they must surely perish of extreme want.”
1825 Bank of England was almost bankrupt Sir Walter Scott the author. In 1825 and 1826, a banking crisis swept through the cities of London and Edinburgh. The Ballantyne printing business, in which Scott was heavily invested, crashed, resulting in his being very publicly ruined.”
1826 26th April 1,000 weavers gathered at Whinny Hall Enfield Accrington they destroyed power looms in Accrington, Blackburn, Darwin, Oswaldtwistle and Hoddlesden where there was confrontation with the Dragoons. A weaver spoke to the troopers. “What are we to do, we’re starving, Are we to starve to death.” Soldiers gave them their sandwiches.
The plight of the Hand Loom Weavers was brought again to the notice of the House of Commons
William Hulton gave evidence to the House of Commons, he said, “I have witnessed things I have not conceived existed in a civilised country.” On one visit to a cottage, we found there on one side of the fire a very old man apparently dying, on the other side a young man with a child on his knee, whose mother had just died and been buried and evidently that young man and child were suffering from want. We were about to leave and the woman accompanying us said, Sir, you have not seen all.’ We went upstairs and we found another young man a widower, and turning down the rags which he was unable to move himself, we found another man who was dying and died in the course of the day.”
William Huton’s evidence moved the country. Many whether in authority or not, at last realised how many people, not just in Lancashire, were made defenceless against economic and technological change.
The London Relief Committee in 1826 sent aid to Lancashire by distributing £27,000 in cash and goods. The Home Secretary Robert Peel trusted that in the distribution of the relief money, care would be taken that no person who was relieved, had been implicated in the disturbances. William Turner wrote that it is extremely doubtful if much notice was taken of this. The distress was too deep and too crushing for any decent person to discriminate one famished wretch and his children against another.
I have used with permission from the author extracts from the book ‘Riot!’ The story of the East Lancashire Loom-Breakers in 1826 by William Turner.
In June 2007 I contacted Mr Turner about his book and shared with him the sorrow that I felt for the plight of the hand loom weavers. He spoke of the impact that his research on the subject had on his life; ‘It is the part of the Industrial Revolution that took place in this country that nobody hears about.’
During that same month I organised a ‘Prayer Walk’ a small group of us from St. Mary’s walked along paths that the weavers must have trod and at various points we prayed for the Lord’s healing on the land.
Jesus has redeemed the land
On the cross Jesus’ blood from his wounds and heart trickled down from his head to his feet and onto the ground. Jesus said that Abel’s blood cried out from the land. The life (blood) breathed into Adam, brought life, when Abel’s blood cried out, it brought death. The precious blood of Jesus bringing forgiveness and healing to lives of those like Abel who have been victims of man’s inhumanity to man.
Let us pray
Lord we pray for the healing of this land
The Valleys and hills of Rossendale.
This land that has been trodden by the rich and the poor.
And heard words of anger, bitterness and forgiveness.
It has been watered by the tears of the pained and the despairing,
The forsaken and the betrayed.
Lord we pray for your forgiveness and we ask for the healing of this land.
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer
For the Weavers who died in loneliness and heartache,
In weariness and want, in anxiety and fear, and for those whose eyes were not able to see the true picture.
Loving Lord Jesus you fed, the hungry on the mountain side. With your hands you made real bread.
Be gentle when you touch bread,
Let it not lie, uncared for, unwanted, so often bread is taken for granted.
There is such beauty in bread. Beauty of sun and soil, Beauty of patient toil. Wind and rain have caressed it, Christ often blessed it.
Be gentle when you touch bread.
Lord we pray for your forgiveness for those who starved to death, whilst others had plenty.
Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer
The land strained, stressed, and distressed by violence. The pounding of heavy, hurting feet, the weight of broken looms, the clatter of horse’s hooves. The piecing sound of guns being fired. Men and women driven by injustice against the justice of orderly lives. Lord, we pray for your forgiveness and for the healing of this land.
Lord Jesus thank you for hearing our prayers and using them to bring healing to the hills and valleys in Rossendale. In Jesus’ name. Amen
A word of scripture was given to a member of congregation:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with, He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. . . . .That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 15.