In his monthly letter to the diocese, the Archbishop of Armagh shows that he can be influenced and persuaded and by specific cradle Anglicans …
Archbishop Alan Harper writes:
One of the most worthwhile things we do in the life of the Church is to nurture children in the faith. The safety of children is an absolute priority in all of this and failure in this area has caused and continues to cause immense damage both to the children who are the victims, and to the Gospel which is compromised and undermined by such criminal exploitation. So the first thing I want to emphasize as we do resume the organizational patterns of parish life is the absolute and overwhelming priority of ensuring that children and other vulnerable people are protected and treated with respect.
One of my daughters recently sent me two pictures from her iPhone of her daughter (my granddaughter) having her afternoon nap in granddad‘s big bed at my own house. She is accustomed to taking a book with her when she goes for a nap but the only book she could find was a brief sketch of the work of Bishop Jeremy Taylor: a riveting read and with only one picture — that on the cover. Naturally I was delighted to see that, even at the age of two and a half, my granddaughter was taking her Anglicanism so seriously even though the evidence of the photo was that she was fast asleep, no doubt driven so by what another of my daughters calls my “snorry” books.
Naturally, besotted grandparent that I am, I sent a message of thanks to my daughter for the picture, suggesting a title, ‘Cradle Anglican’. I can’t say that the suggestion met with much enthusiasm but she did say something important. It was this, “I’ll tell you what would be important to me re M. [the granddaughter] and the Church. I would love it if, bearing in mind the ‘suffer the little children’ idea, you could suggest that everyone be aware of the needs of children and families in all churches. It‘s still quite daunting, the thought of taking her to church, when there are no facilities for small children and babies. A few toys and a playmat at the back, somewhere to change a nappy and somewhere to feed that’s not a loo! In years gone by mums breastfed openly in church but you don’t see it now…(although you may soon enough!)” She went on, “I never really understood ‘suffer’ little children before but I guess it means facilitate, tolerate and to some extent indulge. Otherwise they don’t get to experience church and neither do their parents…” She has a point don’t you think’?