Why would God allow this?
11 Nov 2011
A BAPTIST minister whose church was close to Britain's worst motorway crash in 20 years has been inundated with questions about the goodness and power of God in the wake of that tragedy.
At least seven people died in the 35-vehicle crash on the M5 near Taunton, Somerset last Friday.
Creech St Michael Baptist Church is just a couple of miles from where the pile-up took place, and its minister the Revd Gary Birch was in much media demand over the weekend.
Mr Birch conducted live interviews on BBC Radio 4 and 5 Live, while the BBC also filmed the early part of his church's Sunday morning service, in which prayers were said for all those involved. The footage featured on its rolling news coverage throughout the day.
Several times he was asked the question, 'Why would God allow this?'
'I simply said I don't know,' Mr Birch told The Baptist Times. 'It would be foolish to even try and answer.
'But I said when human beings are involved, things can go wrong.
'I tried to convey that God is a God who comforts, that he's as distressed as we are, and that he can bring hope and healing, both physically and emotionally.'
Just before midnight on Friday Mr Birch was placed on standby as part of the Faith Communities Response team.
Earlier in the evening he had been watching from his house the fireworks display at Taunton Rugby Club, which police at the start of the week were treating as a major line of inquiry as a possible cause of the accident.
His church had also planned a joint thanksgiving service with a local Anglican church on Sunday to remember loved ones.
That service had 'added poignancy,' said Mr Birch. 'We tried to keep it as we had planned, but there several references to what happened.'
He said the priority for church over next few days was to care for the people involved. 'The majority of the people we know are the paradmedics, fire service, police, as well as the chaplaincy, local council. Being in a county town with a big hospital, lots of our congregation work there.
'It's now about caring for the individuals we know, members of my congregation involved in dealing with the incident,' said Mr Birch.
It was also a point made by fellow Baptist minister the Revd Phil Jump, chair of the Industrial Christian Fellowship, who encouraged prayer for all those in the emergency services.
'I don't think it's unrelated that a lot of trauma for those involved in war is the mutilation they witness,' said Mr Jump, the regional minister team leader of the North Western Baptist Association and a former London Metropolitan Police chaplain.
'Road traffic accidents are the biggest thing police have to deal with. Let's remember these people, let's pray for them, let's create space for them.
'At least we now live in a society where people can talk about it. We need to give space to talk, let them find their own coping mechanisms. It highlights the importance of chaplaincies.'
A Baptist hospital chaplain was part of the response in the immediate aftermath of the accident. The Revd Steven Reed, formerly minister of Hemyock Baptist Church in Devon, had recently joined the chaplaincy team at Musgrove Hospital in Taunton where those injured were taken. He was on duty on Friday night.
At the start of the week Taunton churches were organising a possible vigil near the scene for this Friday night.
Adrian Prior Sankey, co-ordinator for both Taunton Street Pastors and the Faith Communities Response team, said the aim was to provide the community a 'point of focus'.
'We will come together for a moment's silence, hear the mayor thank the emergency services, and with the help of the Salvation Army band sing some appropriate songs,' he told The Baptist Times.
'It's community vigil. People will be able to lay flowers, and it will be a point of focus, enabling them to move on, whatever that means.'
Source: The Baptist Times
