'I’ve even cut hair for a homeless couple in the Aldi car park'
Baptist minister Graham McBain took a barbering course at the end of lockdown, and now offers free cuts as a community pastor in Hartlepool. He explains how this is 'an incredible pastoral privilege'
It’s late afternoon as I’m going through my daily ritual of sterilising my scissors and recharging my trimmers. I’ve cut of lot of men’s hair in Hartlepool, but ‘Perry’ really has made an impact on me.
He responded to my online offer of free cuts and fresh trims with a very public criticism: I’d let him down by not turning up for a previous appointment.
It wasn’t me, he’d got ‘Graham the barber’ mixed up with another mobile barber and when he realised his mistake was apologetic and keen for a cut.
As I tidied up his top cut and blended in the fade our conversation, as it so often does, turns to the deeper things of life, faith, belief, regret, and guilt.
“I want to turn my life around, I want to leave the house, I want to make friends and I want to put things right with people I’ve wronged – but I can’t do it myself- maybe if…….”
The list is often long and wholly unrealistic at this point and I feel a prompting to say a little more than, “Would you like a bit more off the top?”
I put my scissors down and look at Perry through the reflection of the mirror in front of him. I begin to talk to him about the strength and support of belonging to a church community. I talk about the unlikely and surprising nearness of God, who not only sees Perry, but takes joy and pleasure in him.
Perry has lived in the same house in the same community for many years - but had no idea there was a church community so close by. I’m hoping my visits may start to crack the dominant wall of self-isolation he has built around himself, and that those cracks will let a new light into his life.
Barbering is an incredibly enriching missional activity and a way of meeting many people like Perry. It started when I joined a one night-a-week barber course at a local college at the end of lockdown.
Initially it was just a hobby, but I was soon blown away by the depth of conversation I, as a barber, could have with men who wouldn’t ever consider visiting a church or speaking to a minister. I remember the look of incredulity when I asked one man if he’d ever attended a church service - it simply wasn’t something that had ever been an interest or concern for him.
In the past I’d led all sorts of good men’s initiatives: big breakfasts, curry nights, Dads & Lads, Men’s festivals, camping weekends etc to try and engage with men like this, but barbering is very different. For a start there’s not the pressure and guilt of trying to invite men to an event, I simply go to them.
I might share my story, or I might not, but there is always this incredible mix of attentiveness to needs and a time to listen. For some this may be the only time someone has spoken or been attentive to them that day - and dare I say it, at the end of the encounter, they look much better too. Barbering is an incredible pastoral privilege!
As a community pastor I offer free cuts to Hartlepool men which has led to me meeting those who can’t afford a cut, or need a tidy up before a job interview. I’ve even cut hair for a homeless couple in the Aldi car park.
My mirror broke during this cut, and they wanted to set up a crowd funding page to buy me a new mirror. It’s funny how it’s often the people with the least who are the most generous.
Another client opened up about his struggles with addiction, while another has talked about becoming a priest. We saw dignity and restoration with the lad who finally felt able to take his hood down after keeping his head covered for a year.
Barbering is opening doors and introducing us to a whole new community of ‘indifferent to church people.’ Just recently we were invited to the local town centre wellness hub to cut hair at their recovery drop-in centre. While I trimmed and faded, Mairi (my wife and also a community pastor) listened to the challenges the wellness hub manager had been facing during a particularly difficult week, when she had felt overwhelmed by the needs of others coming for support. She also talked to the leader of the council. Doors seem to be opening.
When I started my barber training a few years ago, some folks were concerned about how I might fit this in with leading a church. They questioned whether it was appropriate for a Baptist minister to cut hair.
Yet this is where God has led me, and I believe uses me.
My daily prayer includes these words:
‘Holy Spirit lead us always
to be where you need us to be,
equip us to be courageous.
telling stories of hope
and proclaiming in fresh ways,
the good news to this generation’
I never imagined that ‘Fresh ways’ could mean ‘Fresh Trims’, but God…..
Mairi and Graham McBain are contributing a regular blog about their ministry as Community Pastors in Hartlepool
Mairi is an Newly Accredited Minister and Senior HR Business Partner for a national charity; Graham has been a Baptist minister for 25 years and together they have served and led Baptist churches in a number of contexts, including overseas with BMS World Mission
Read their other blogs here:
Baptist Times, 23/11/2023