The football final season brings with it disturbing trends. Agencies report an increase in incidents of domestic violence against women, often related to alcohol and gambling issues. As a church we’ve been running termly Men’s Breakfasts at which we’ve been considering what true masculinity looks like, applying the following test: Do the women around us feel safe in our presence? A woman’s unease may be caused by behaviour that’s over-bearing or controlling. Equally it may arise through a man’s failure to take appropriate measures to protect. Essentially, this latter scenario was the failure of Adam in the Garden of Eden when he just sat back, doing nothing to protect Eve against the abusive intent of the snake. Jesus was a man in whose presence both women and men felt safe. He was known as a defender of the oppressed and protector of the vulnerable. He displayed a love for others that many people had simply never experienced before. Many people today still claim to know Jesus and receive the same comfort and protection from him, not just from danger in this life, but also from peril in the life to come.  

Craig Langstaff – Rector, St Peter’s Church.  (Article published in edition of ‘Heads News’. September 2025)