My brother was the assistant lay minister on one of the rougher estates in Maidstone.  He of course only knew the first half of this tale.  It was quite some weeks later that someone told him the reason why the young lad was so anxious for redemption.

Tony answered the knock on the door. There stood a young lad of maybe 15. He knew most of the youth on the estate, either through the youth club, or through the pastoral visits to people’s homes. This one was new to him. He looked anxious, almost frightened. Tony wondered what problem had driven him to the door of the lay assistant minister. Most of the kids on the estate, most of their parents come to that, steered as far from the church as they possibly could. It changed when they needed something, of course. Was he being beaten up at home? Was it a problem with his Mum or sister?

He stepped to one side. "Hi. Come on in."

The boy shook his head. "No, that’s alright. I just want to give you this back." He held out a carrier bag.

"What’s this?" Tony asked, looking in the bag. There was an assortment of power tools.

"I nicked them from your shed. Sorry."

Tony offered the bag back. "Sorry. These aren’t mine."

Panic crossed the boy’s face. "Yes. Yes, they are. I nicked them from your garden shed. I’m giving them back." He stepped back, hands held behind his back, refusing the bag.

"I don’t keep any tools in my shed."

The boy looked close to tears. "I’m sorry. I won’t nick anything else, but you’ve got to take them back. Please. You’re the vicar, right?"

Tony had long given up explaining his job title. "Assistant vicar, yes."

"Then they’re yours. Honest. Just take them, right? They’re not mine. I stole them from your shed. I think it was your shed. Anyway, I’ve given them back, right? That’s us quits, right?"

And without waiting for a reply he turned and scurried up the path.

Tony closed the door and turned to his wife’s enquiring face. "Guess what? I’ve got some power tools. I wonder who’s shed he stole them from."

On the main road, behind the privet hedge, the boy was surrounded by a half dozen of his peers. One of them grabbed him and shoved him against the hedge, all escape cut off.

"You give them back?"

He nodded frantically. "Yeah, yeah. I gave them all back, see?"

His captor nodded grimly. "He’s the only bastard on this estate that gives a sodding thought about us. There’s nowhere else to go on a Saturday night if it wasn’t for the youth club. You touch anything of his again, we’ll give you a kicking that’ll put you in hospital."