Mayor Making

Mr Mayor, the Rector has welcomed you on behalf of the church, and now as Town Centre Chaplain I welcome you on behalf of all the people who live and work in this town.  The start of a new Civic Year is a very important milestone in the life of any community, it heralds a new relationship between the people and those elected to serve their interests on the council, and as we have just had the local elections and have a new council, I extend a very warm welcome to elected members of Stafford Borough Council, especially those who have been elected for the first time. In the true traditions of democracy the people have spoken, you are the new Borough Council and you must put your own personal interests to one side and serve the common good serve for the benefit of this borough for the next four years. And it’s a sobering thought that this Borough of Stafford has enjoyed the right to elect those who govern since the Charter of King John in 1206, some 805 years ago, and in 2014 the Borough will celebrate 400 years of the Mayorality, which was granted by King James1. I’m not so naive to believe in those distant days the ordinary people of this town were entrusted with the responsibility of electing members of the borough council, I’m sure it wasn’t like that at all, but this town enjoyed the privilege of a representative borough council headed by two Reeves or Bailiffs selected from the “Free Burgesses” of the town, still remembered and celebrated by the appointment of the Silver Mace Bearers and the carrying of the Silver Maces on official occasions today. The tradition of the Free Burgesses is still alive in this town with the Stafford Freemen’s Guild of the Stafford Burgesses.

The Mayor replaced the bailiffs in 1614/15 and the council then consisted of 10 Aldermen and 10 “Capital” burgesses, evidently the great and good of the town undertaking local governance.  The change from two Bailiffs to a Mayor was not without incident, it has been described by historians as a tale of intrigue, riots and snobbery, a very close fought argument which erupted into violence on more than one occasion, with the side wanting a Mayor claiming that it would keep the governing of the town in the hands of a “better type of person”, but the truth was the side that gave more money to the King won. Hence we had the first Mayor.  Mr Mayor you are the     Mayor since  Matthew Craddock Junior became the first Mayor.

Things have changed enormously over the centuries, but we in Stafford do have a long and proud history of local government, which the new council is now charged to continue until the next local elections, apart from the intrigue and the riots that is.

Now, I am sure there will be people who would say why do we need all this paraphernalia of pomp and ceremony, think of the money we would save if we just had a Chairman or even a Commissar, but in my view that argument misses the point, and I suggest it misses the point because history tells us the human race has always found it better to work together in community, and  today’s council meeting and the election of the Mayor, and this service are visible demonstrations of that community in action. The public who elected this council and therefore through them the councillors who elected the Mayor this morning, can see what they voted for, feel they are part of the process, unlike when Matthew Craddock Jnr was elected as the first Mayor of the Borough.  To make sure he got the job he even paid for that mace, but the council did repay him some years later.

In a recent book the anthropologist Francis Fukuyama, suggests that humans are in the most fundamental sense an aggressive species and therefore we have always found it both desirable and necessary to give up our individual autonomy in order for some form of government to guarantee our mutual security, and from that beginning our modern state and form of democracy has evolved. Other countries have evolved their own particular forms of democracy to suit their own needs.

But the downside to that is whenever people govern others, they invariably take power to the extreme, the old adage attributed to Lord Acton, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”, and even today we see evidence of corruption by governments and individuals throughout the world, but we also see people willing to take to the streets to overthrow dictators and secure democracy, even at the cost of many lives, look at Egypt, Syria and of course Libya. Which proves freedom is so precious to us.

Things were no different in Jesus’ day, he spoke against the Roman Empire, who oppressed most of the then known world, he railed against the Jewish leaders who controlled the people for their own benefit and to ensure that power was kept in the hands of a few people.  The Scribes and Pharisees used God as a weapon to subjugate the Jewish people, to frighten them into submission.  Jesus turned all that on its head, his message was counter-cultural, indeed The Christian Socialist Movement would say revolutionary.  Marx may have claimed “Religion is the opium of the people”, but the message Christ proclaimed was undoubtedly a message of freedom and equality for all people, that message from the prophet Isaiah Jesus delivered in the synagogue in Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”.  Jesus also told us the only commandments we needed to understand and follow was “Love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbours as ourselves”. The very foundation of Christian love.

The readings chosen for this service speak of how we should follow that last commandment, to love our neighbour as ourselves, to act in community with each other. Luke, tells us about the Good Samaritan who helped the Jewish man who had been attacked by thieves and seriously injured, while his fellow Jews, the Priest and the Levite, walked by on the other side.  Why did Jesus use the Good Samaritan in his parable? The answer shows just how counter cultural was his message.  The Samaritans were an offshoot of the Jews, but had fallen out with each other over religious differences going back centuries. A Samaritan would not help a Jew and vice-a-versa, remember the reaction when Jesus asked for a drink of water from a Samaritan woman at the well, his disciples could not believe what he had done. If anyone should have helped the injured man the Priest or Levite should have done, but they didn’t want to get involved, only the Samaritan acted out of love and kindness towards the injured Jewish man.  The Samaritan didn’t see an injured Jews, he saw an injured man who needed help, and gave that help without question.

What a familiar story in today’s society, how many of us walk by on the other side because of being frightened of what might happen to us, sometimes justified. But what does it all say about community?

Last week the Chief Constable stood in this church and said that despite the number of crimes coming down, people are still worried about being victims.  To quote Mr Cunningham, “Who is at most risk of being a victim of crime, the older person sitting at home watching Strictly Come Dancing or the young man on the streets of Stafford when the pubs are turning out”. Sadly all too often the person sitting at home feels more vulnerable than the young man on the streets where hundreds of young people are.  The fear of crime is worse than crime itself. This tells us in recent years the community cohesion which was so evident in past generations has broken down in many parts of our towns and cities. People do not have time for each other, do not want to get involved, walk by on the other side. People do not even know who their neighbours are, so how can they love them as themselves.

The reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans builds on that theme of loving our neighbour with some very firm advice.  “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.  Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers”. That last exhortation, extend hospitality to strangers is I suggest, one of your main functions this coming year Mr Mayor.  As the First Citizen of this ancient borough you will meet people from all walks of life, different cultures, creeds, religions, political views, different interest groups, which all make up this wonderful mix of community we call Stafford.  How you extend hospitality to them during your year can make all the difference to their lives and the groups they represent.

As a model you may wish to follow the good example of your predecessor, John Griffin, Mayor in 1856 who to celebrate the Ratification of Peace in the Crimean war issued the following proclamation.  “The aged poor, both men and women, will be regaled in the covered market hall with Roast Beef, Plum Pudding and Ale.  All poor persons of 55 and upwards can apply for tickets at the Guildhall”.  You may say the bun fight after this service is the natural successor to John Griffin’s invitation, but I am sure all the fundraising activities and events you have planned for the Mayor’s Charities probably fit the bill better.

The truth is of course, that cheerfulness, honesty, generosity, hospitality and love are positively healthy for us as humans, that’s why the primary message of the great religions of the world point us towards loving our neighbour and extending hospitality to strangers. It’s certainly better than fighting each other.

And so on this very special day I pray that your Mayoral year will be filled with cheerfulness, generosity, love and fulfilment, with much hospitality extended and received.  Amen.