Category: Weekly Shots during a Pandemic

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Why I have faith in the Methodist Church’s ‘God For All’ Strategy… Speaking the truth about how the Church has a track-record of change and is prepared to retain its spiritual integrity and confront reality.

I find it relatively easy to forgive people who are sceptical of the Methodist Church, even when they are close to the point of undermining it. After all, the Church belongs to God, and not to us, and whilst congregations rise and fall, the work of God continues. God is big enough to handle the complaint, and we are big enough to listen, even if we become wound-up. Curiously, I find that this distrust of the Church is more apparent in those who are activists and pioneers in the life of the Church. This, I suspect, is for two reasons. Please therefore indulge me in what will be a long introduction to why I have faith in the Methodist Church, and in God for All . (You can, by the way, take my faith in Jesus as read). And also, please do not read this as my questioning our investment in pioneering, innovation and even enabling people who we know will agitate. I write also as a pioneer coach, or at least, someone who does my bit to help bridge the link between the experience of leaders on the margins, and the institution at the center.

First, as a leader I am well aware that there can be genuine problems with how the institution of the church feels at odds with immediate needs on the ground, and of how some our or policies and procedures can feel archaic and non-sensical. This is sometimes a fair point. The issue is not however that the policies are necessarily wrong. it is that they are framed with an approach and in a language that seems overly legalistic and archaic. If for example, I invite a group of Christians who are gathering as a congregation to see themselves as a church, I will often get a good response. However, if I were to suggest that they need a steward, a treasurer, a property secretary, a pastoral secretary, and a safeguarding officer (and the list could go on), they may well look at me in horror (apart from agreeing that safeguarding was the most important thing). However, if I say, ‘That’s an impressive jar of money that people have given so far – do you think someone should start a bank account’, or ‘It’s great to see so many people here, do we have anyone who can keep track of who people are and how we can contact them?’ the result, I guarantee you will be different. Sadly, we overlook all too easily that many of our regulations have been formed, by our reflecting on experience – and sometimes bad experience – in the white-hot hear of mission. Thus you might think that a requirement of fourteen days notice for a church council meeting to take place is unwieldy, until you find yourself in a new church that has become insular, cliquey, and planning things behind everyone’s backs. Or until you find a leader who because they have not considered safeguarding, ends up compromising themselves or wholly unprotected if something goes wrong.

The second reason why people may be sceptical is because – and this is my one and only objection to Fresh Expressions, as someone who is still an Advocate for the movement – we have baked-in to the call for people to develop new forms of church and mission the argument that the inherited church has failed. In other words, we are asking and releasing people to do new work – which, however we measure it, has been hugely successful, but then we ask them in the same breath to trust the inherited Church, the wider body that is in decline, to manage what is fragile and new. Unsurprisingly, people have reservations and Fresh Expressions becomes the victim of its own rhetoric. What people forget of course is that whilst the inherited Church has struggled to adapt, all of this new work has been funded through the generosity and time of people in the wider Church, who have given greatly. Arguably, if we were to measure the level of giving towards mission, we would find that inherited congregations have sacrificed a great deal. Rather than calling for ministers (for example) to serve them tea and biscuits until they die, they have accepted that whilst they miss their minister, and even need their minister, their minister needs to go where they are needed the most. Of course, I am not suggesting that this is always the case, but in what is approaching now twenty years of experience, I have seen a significant shift.

So having addressed two reasons why some innovators and pioneers might be sceptical of the Methodist Church, allow me to share why I have confidence in God For All. In the main, it is a judgement built on my experience on what the Church has got right, and it begins with Our Calling (now 20 years old, reaffirmed in 2018), something that remains a versatile tool for church reflection. It gave way to a process of change that I have lived through. Whilst the Church may be slow to react in certain instances, no one can question the Methodist Church’s ability to ask difficult questions, have the integrity to follow them through, and implement difficult decisions. We might not like the decisions I grant you, but please don’t present the image of a sloth like church that is unable to cross the road in time to avoid oncoming traffic.

Following Our Calling came the Conference Reports:

Where are we heading? (2003)
Priorities for the Methodist Church (2004) – here we identified how, among other issues, people struggled with the capacity to speak of God, and to evangelise.
Team Focus (2005), resulting in the restructuring of the Connexional Team.
Reshaping for Mission (2006) which encouraged circuits to merge for mission.
Fruitful Field (2011 onwards), representing a wholesale change in our understanding of ‘formation’ wherein previously we had focused a disproportional level of resourcing on ordination training, a the expense of other formational needs among lay people.

Methodism’s Hidden Harvest (2016) began to highlight some of the benefits of the Church’s partnership with Fresh Expressions, concluding,

31% of circuits have a fresh expression
37,000 people worship regularly in a Methodist Fresh Expression
24,000 of those attending have no prior experience of church
59% of fresh expressions are lay-led

You can read the report here:

3307-fx-research-report-methodism-s-hidden-harvestDownload


Following this trend and after a period where the Church, nationally, set out with its Reimagine agenda (a shift that included that was much broader than fresh expressions, encouraging circuits and churches to reflect on their mission and develop new work, the Methodist Church then began a lengthy, grass roots consultation which led to God For All, the conference paper for which is available via the link below:

conf-2020-4-evangelism-and-growthDownload

The thing that excites me about God for All as a progression of this is how:

• It has arisen from the wholesale consultation across the wider church, thanks to the early work of the Evangelism and Growth teams.
• The Methodist Church has ‘put its money where its mouth is’. £22.7 million pounds over five years, including £1 million on encouraging personal evangelism, £6.6million for New Places for New People (new work), £8.6 million for working on the margins, in comparison to basic staffing costs of £2.7 million.
• It is a strategy for growth that can be owned fully by the Methodist people and comes from the heart of the church. (I say this having experienced how Fresh Expressions rejuvenated the church, but was not as owned by the Methodist Church, at its grassroots, as much as it could be). This I feel is something that has emerged from the heart of the Methodist Church, of which Methodists can rightly be proud. Of course, I use the term ‘ownership’ and ‘pride’ in the best possible way. Ownership is not about us holding on to, and refusing to share something that is precious to us, it is about churches surviving because the self-govern, self-finance, and self-propagate, albeit in the context of Methodist subsidiarity. (And to that drawing from my ‘what’s healthy in mission perspective’ I would include self-theologising, in the sense that there is ample room within God for All for local churches to discern the shape of their mission. It is not one-size fits all approach.
• It holds the church to account, asks, ‘And so What?’ and suggests a way forward. I believe that the structural changes are much like a new wineskin that God is for us. Now this is in place we need to grow a crop for the new wine. I view God For All as encouraging the variety and blend of people and resources that we need. Another important feature is that I think Methodism is ahead of the curve here in terms of mission. Whilst I can see synods in other denominations are being excited about the stories and good practice that are surfacing from Church at the Margins and/or pioneering contexts, God For All seems to be a much more coherent approach, where different variations in missional work are being woven together in one garment, and no longer is one act of mission taken as more valuable, or given more profile because it is more shiny than another. We need both The Methodist Way of Life, and Everyone an Evangelist for example. Without wanting to sound dismissive, beware any local church that thinks it can deflect difficult questions about their lack of growth – some of my own included (we can all do it) – by over-emphasising (as they fade into oblivion) the importance of spiritual growth alone. Considerable work has also been clearly done on how the different facets of God For All feed into each other. Until this point, I have for example seen dioceses in the Church of England develop say a 2020 vision to reach equity of fresh expressions versus inherited church staff and projects, but God for all seems to go deeper, broader.
• It focuses on us encouraging adaptive (hard) rather than technical (easier) change. I am minded that in their report on Reshaping for Mission, the Strategy Research Team concluded (in my own words) that we were good on the ‘reshaping’, but poor on the ‘mission’ part. I see God For All as being something that can address this.
• God for All faces up to the need for evangelism and growth, and refuses to dodge the fundamental issues by overemphasizing the importance of our ‘spiritual growth’ whilst ignoring our need to make new disciples.
• The foundational tenets of centering our lives on God, prioritising evangelism, and developing transformational leadership (TL) resonates with me. I am excited by how centering our lives on God will be driven by The Methodist Way of Life. From my perspective, this is a resource that needs to be pushed at circuit level, rather than appearing as an option. Doubtless the pandemic has had a significant impact on the different means by which the message, and the commitment cards can be distributed. From my experience, this is an urgent area of review and we may need some even sharper directives from the connexion to accelerate this.
• Linked to Transformational Leadership, if this is taken seriously (and it is a technical phrase that should not be banded about unless you mean what it implies) I find the concept of ‘individualised consideration’ as key, as well as helping teams discover their collective identity and the power that they do have. There is a strong links for pastors here in helping individuals connect their sense of self to a project and then to others within a group. Additionally, I think that the focus within TL on helping people think for themselves is empowering, as is an openness towards what is unexpected or remarkable. I can think of projects that have started in one direction but have had benefits in another. I am not sure whether we have focused as much as we could on how we understand ‘leadership’ in the church – perhaps an area of further work.

• The remaining elements excite me because:
… they arise from our having reflected on our Methodist tradition and have theological depth. They are so clearly anchored people cannot refer to tradition as a way of resisting change. Church on the Margins for example, is exactly what John Wesley did.
…they show a sophistication of thinking – the very fact that leaders are recognised separately from pioneers, evangelists or leaders is telling.
…The focus on Digital Mission simply says to me that the Church is aware and alert to new mission fields, and engaging with this.

So there you have it. That is why I believe in God for All. Above all, and retuning to my opening comments about why people may be sceptical of the Church, we would do well to remember that we are called to follow Jesus, but to follow Jesus is to be part of the Church; the two go hand-in hand within the Missio Dei, Sure, we can talk about how ‘church’ can exist in different forms, and how churches can organise their own affairs (there is a surprising degree of latitude in our current policies, membership aside) but to lose faith in the Church, and its capacity to, just occasionally get things right, is really to lose faith in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Reflections on Adapting to Change from Bridge Builders II: Leadership and Resilience in Ministry

Welcome folks. It has been a very heavy week for me – but for better reasons than sadly, the number of funerals that have come my way as per the last two weeks. This week and next week, as a product of my Ministerial Development Review, and with the support of the Circuit, I am attending a Bridge Builder’s course.

This organisation specialises in helping people manage conflict – and when I did the first course two years ago it transformed by perspective. It helped me take less on myself and gave me some very practical skills to respond in the best possible way when difference and tension collide within my own family, within me, and within churches. One of the lessons I learnt was that some forms of conflict are a natural part of the creative process. The art of moving forward seems to revolve around acknowledging feelings, and what we are passionate about – and noting through all of this the common ground that we can agree on. A good example of this have been some of the really helpful conversations that we have had about God in Love Unites Us. The issue of same sex relationships can be a polarising one, but I have been proud of how we have lived phrases such as. ‘We can think differently, but love the same’. Another, Wesleyan, principle is that we can ‘disagree well. The main thing during our conversations as a National Church has been that despite our differences, those who are part of the LGBT+ community have felt listened to and respected – as have those who struggle. As with any form of conflict, progress begins when we have the confidence and the forbearance to face our emotions and share how we feel. Meanwhile, scripture calls us to discern a way forward which accepts that we bear in mind the health of the body as a whole. I did not intend to speak on God in Live Unites Us as I set out to offer my weekly bulletin today, but it has naturally led in this direction, and to me reminding us all to pray for the Church and our forthcoming District synod, and to invite anyone who wants to share their thoughts on the report to contact our synod reps, or anyone in CLT. Thoughts shared in writing are of course the easiest place to start though.


This second part of the course – four days over two weeks, is on Building Resilience in Ministry, which feels somewhat ironic given that if all of us were not resilient in the first place, given everything we have experienced, we would have fallen by the wayside already, I will report a little more on this once the course is over, but so far I have been encouraged by a focus on the Psalms which has underlined for me that a cycle of how feeling disorientated (either by difficult events or as things seem chaotic before a new order of things is established) is very much part of the human condition. There are of course times of blessing. The reality is that rather than pushing back against the discomfort of disorientation, we step more to it in the knowledge that a sense of order will emerge. Linking this to the pandemic, there is a tendency to go back to the way things were before – which is now a distant land, and in reality, unobtainable. Instead, we need to sit with the discomfort, in that heady mix of celebrating the good things that we have put in place despite the pandemic whilst questioning how everything fits back together as we emerge into face to face worship. What will we drop? What will we continue? What will we adjust? It all feels uncomfortable but we have no option to go back; we must move forward. My thoughts and prayers are with every church in the circuit as we reflect. Be reassured as you hear me acknowledge how challenging this might feel. We will get there in the end. And we will be all the better for it, having been crafted into the kind of churches that God wants us to be, fit for our present age.

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Pajama Sunday? Why not? We have a Sunday for just about everything else – and we could in fact be saying something serious.

Sheep Onesie for sale by Onesieful. (Teenager not included – but lets give it a try).
https://www.onesieful.com/products/premium-fluffy-sheep-adult-onesie-onesieful

A great idea which began as a joke on our Livestreamed morning prayers. during the warm-up, but then became serious. I was joking about how so many people admit that they link in with prayers as they get up in the morning, sometimes watching in bed, and still in their pajamas. (I am not one to judge as I am certainly not a morning person). I suggested that I should present prayers in my PJ’s and dressing gown in solidarity, and even suggested that we should have a ‘Pajama Sunday’ in the church, since we have plenty of other Sunday’s with a clear focus. Jokingly, I asked that if we did that, what would it stand for.

The response came back that we could remember that God accepts us for who we are, wherever we are, and whatever we are wearing. I think that this is profound. So what do you think? Is this something we should pursue? On the one hand it could feel quite gimmicky, and we would I am sure, have to say that people would have to wear their PJ’s on top of other clothes, but the point we would be making, just at the moment where we may want to welcome new people into the life of the church, or those who have been distant from us, could be powerful. Do let me know? I should say that I am aware of a church in Peterborough where this happened for real at a midnight communion service. I gather that folks simply showed their usual welcome. Good on them. Irrespective of whether we feel this is right to pursue, the point is a meaningful and timely one.

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Change Begins with the Spirit – or in my case being dive-bombed by an angry bird

During my daily prayers I have been focusing on the All We Can theme, ‘Change begins with the Spirit’. At the beginning of the week we remembered Jesus turning the table in the temple. Today we remember the ten commandments.

My two reflections? 

With respect to the former, we often think of the Holy Spirit in peaceful terms; the Spirit who brings comfort, counselling, serenity. The Spirit that is gentle, like a dove. But there are times when the Spirit is anything but gentle. What we see is dramatic. Disturbing even. We often think of birds as gentle, but my experience has been varied. I remember whilst I was on a camping holiday in Norway once, where I obviously came too close to a bird’s nest on the rugged island in which we were staying. Consequently, one of its parents I suspect, became agitated, swooped around me, and (I thought) was about to dive bomb me. I was already running at the time (hence my being in a very isolated location). All I can say is, it made me run a lot faster! Suffice to say, I think that it is worth us checking our understanding of how the Spirit is at work lest we construct for ourselves and unbalanced view of how we expect God to work in our midst. Granted, if we need the peace of God falling on us as gentle as a dove, God would supply it. But at the same time, sometimes we need the Spirit to shock us and re-center us as to God’s purpose. This is what happens when Jesus turns the table, and we see how serious He is about bringing religious reform of the structures and practices that rather than freeing people to experience God, are simply getting in the way.

Arctic Tern Divebombing, Source: Wikipedia


In respect of the Ten Commandments, I have often shared the story of how one of my churches, when I was a probationer, had the ten commandments on wooden plaques either side of the pulpit. It was a typical preaching house for those of you who are familiar with the layout. I must admit that whilst I valued the ten commandments, I hated these boards. For me they were perhaps the most unwelcoming sign to a newcomer. In ye olde English they conveyed a ‘Thou shalt not’ God of judgment. To compound things the antique wood, dust, and peel, projected a God, and a faith that was staid and irrelevant, unchanging, even resistant to the modern world. Meanwhile, the ‘Thou shalt not’ raised the question of what would happen if anyone disobeyed, and the spectre of an angry God, with a pointy finger, who would vapourise us if we broke the moral code. It is, I admit, a polarised view of the Ten Commandments, but I still felt that it could do more harm than good when taken out of context. There was no reminder that yes, whilst in the same chapter of Exodus 20, God describes himself as jealous, punishing children for the inequity of parents to the third and fourth generation, God also says that he also shows his steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who serve Him and keep His commandments; and this is before we even apply the teachings of Jesus who would help us to see how God is compassionate, how the law is to be interpreted in love, and how God longs to welcome the sinner. Thus, I rest my case. Moreover, we often overlook that the law is given not because God is a killjoy God, but because She longs for life to flourish. And in these most pressing of times, that lesson will surely be not lost on us. The very reason for the covid directions that are in place is to allow life to flourish. It is simply regretful that one consequence of this is how our contact with others has been severely reduced. 

Andrew Martin/Pixabay


What are we to take from this? Well for me, we remember that there are times that the Spirit moves dramatically, even dare I say it, violently – violent in the sense of vigorous, extreme (to our eyes), barging into situations so that God can have Her way. Not though in the sense of intending to deliberately cause harm. Personally I praise God for this – but I am reminded of what a bad idea it would be to be on the wrong side of God if She chooses to act in this way. Second, we are reminded that if and when this happens, God’s purpose is to allow life to flourish. That may well be a tidy and challenging piece of theological reflection, but the real question is, how will this shape our response to God as our churches emerge from lockdown. What tables need to be turned in our churches? What barriers need to be torn down in order for the work of God to continue. And please do note, a barrier is not the same as a boundary. Boundaries are the structures that we put in place to ensure good order. That’s what the ten commandments are; boundaries, not barriers to life in all its fulness.

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Me, Jesus, and the Church. Seven Episodes where people share how they came to faith, how their faith has supported them in difficult times, and how the Church has been a lifeline.

Videos available on YouTube: Link below

I would like to continue to draw your attention to our most recent series of online interviews – Me, Jesus, and the Church. This provides a means by which we can hear from people about their background and their coming to faith, but also how they have found it invaluable to be part of the church. I sense that this link, especially when we are living in socially distanced times, is hugely important. There are always those who will explain that they are Christians, but they do not feel the need to go to church, or to be connected to church. The stories surfacing through Me, Jesus, and the Church are deeply moving, and we are now at episode four in what will be an eight-episode series.

This week we hear from Susan Halford who began her working life grading eggs and has since worked with figures throughout her working life. In terms of Susan’s faith, the first part of the interview focuses on how conversations with the owners of a local fruit and veg shop, initial involvement in Crowland Methodist Church, and her reading the gospel came together to the point where she gave her life to Jesus. In the second half, Susan shares how she has always found that being part of a small group vital in helping her remain faithful as a Christian. The advantage of these videos of course is that if a church has projection facilities, they are easily accessible. As for who the future contributors might be, I am always open to volunteers (some folk have already offered) but you may find that I approach you to share…. Everyone has a story to tell.

Visit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfd1gKrJ4irDkDKdctPFxaw9JEjZn695s to view the full series.

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Epiphany: It is not good enough to simply find Jesus. We must realise (and not just understand) who Jesus is.

Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: The Three Wise Men” (named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar). Detail from: “Mary and Child, surrounded by angels”, mosaic of a Ravennate italian-byzantine workshop, completed within 526 AD by the so-called “Master of Sant’Apollinare”. Photographer, Nina-no, Source. Wikipedia. Patterned leggings were clearly all the rage in first century Palestine.

Happy New Year to folks. And may this be a better year than last year. On this day of Epiphany, many of us say farewell to Christmas and hold on to the fact that the realisation of who Jesus is makes all the difference. I use ‘realise’ deliberately. Realising (from a state of confusion to knowing true meaning), is not the same as understanding (mere comprehension of facts).

Epiphany is not so much about the visit of the Three Wise Men (for a start the scriptures do not tell us how many wise men there were. We simply know that they came from the East). Epiphany is of course about ‘the big reveal’ – but a kind of reveal that is deeper than Jesus simply showing Himself to us like a jack-in-the-box. (For those of you who question whether a baby could, if they wanted, jump out of a box, it is worth reminding ourselves that the infant Jesus had more likely grown into a toddler by the time that the wise men arrived, so I am consider it quite possible that they encountered a playful Jesus). If we were to allow ourselves to question what the toddler Jesus might have been like, we would not doubt find a wealth of rich material, both salutary and comedic. Unfortunately however, because so much would be hypothetical it would be difficult to come away with any certainties that could encourage us. Apart from one thing. If Jesus, as the creeds state, is both truly God and truly human, he would have experienced all the frustrations that we did as we developed. I continue to recoil at the line of ‘Away in a Manger’ that says, ‘The little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes’. I think it needs more clarity, ‘no crying he makes for a brief period, and then He reverts to screaming His head off because he is hungry or needs changing’. And why should that encourage us? Because God is there, in the messiness of life. Because every child needs to scream, otherwise they do not grow powerful lungs. Because we need to scream at times, for our own sanity. Because God is there, supporting Mary and Joseph throughout it all.

Anyway, that is not the point of Epiphany. The point is that the wise men found Jesus and realised who Jesus was and the difference that He would make. It was their ‘Epiphany’. It was a moment in time where they finally began to see how the promises of God would coalesce to a point where hope for the future was viable. So, what might we take from this? Well there are times in our Christian journey where we may well suddenly reach a deeper understanding about the presence and purpose of God in our lives – which enables us to follow and find the ‘Life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10) that Jesus promises. Others may struggle to see this, but you will. Do not forget that there would have been those in Jesus day who visited, who just saw another child – but the wise men saw more. There is a natural link here as we remember how, anointed by the Spirit, we see the world differently to others. We see purpose, potential, hope where others see nothing. Our role is to communicate that hope. To share our faith, to ask people if we can support them though prayer, to help in practical terms, and to invite them to become part of a new community.

There is a link back to Advent of course, even though we are now rooted in Epiphany. The common thread, for me is the wilderness. John the Baptist preaches in it. The wise men journeyed through it to reach Jesus. However, just because something is a wilderness does not mean that it is lifeless – and just because something is challenging does not mean that it is ‘bad’. Sure, the coronavirus is by every definition of the phrase ‘bad news’. However, despite the hostility of the disease, good things – the absolute best of our human nature – has come to the surface. So, as we journey through this barren landscape, and this second lockdown, may we be encouraged that the Kingdom is coming, and that the virus is being beaten, despite the sting in its tail. My prayer is that we can be uplifted, as were the wise men (and women) with the realisation of the presence of God and find hope for the future. And may this pandemic continue to deepen our relationship with God through Christ, and our resolve. Remember, we are supposed to be those people who survey the same scene as everyone else but see differently. May God give us the grace to encourage others. 

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A Snapshot of Life in the Peterborough Circuit: September bulletin 2020. EDI, MHA, Marriage and Relationships, Night Shelter, Foodbank, Livestream.

Weekly bulletin from Langley w/c 080920

Thanks to Dale and Grace for covering the Livestream Worship whilst I was on leave. For me, the break was successful – as a staycation, with some time away visiting relatives, celebrating birthdays, and attending to those routine things that can become easily overlooked. Although things ended up taking a lot of unexpected planning; two cars off the road at the same time, a hire car, keeping a family commitment to visit Woburn Safari Park (yes, in the hire car.) I am not sure how righteous I am, but the sun kept shining, and most importantly the combination of the hire care and the Safari Park was uneventful (I did not really think that through). Whilst the family were excited at the prospect of entering the monkey enclosure (and had shared with me horrific videos of how capable baboons are of destroying car trim), the most exciting thing we saw was a grey squirrel. The park were carrying out maintenance at the time, and we think that this scared them away. Other aspects of the safari were amazing though. The brown bears were cute. The lions and tigers were out. The rhino, which came within five feet of the car, munching the grass whilst a keeper tried to direct them off the road, was so graceful. The aim of the holiday was of course to try and come back rested for September. I think we made some progress, although as is the case for a great deal of people, life is still hectic, and a holiday is not so much a rest as it is a change of routine and focus.

It is Synod this Saturday, and this will be held via zoom. If you are a synod rep, Sue will be doubling up on the District’s efforts (you should have been approached independently anyway), and passed on the zoom link.

EDI Toolkit image

There is continued focus on how we all emerge from the lockdown, on how as a Church we continue with our EDI (Equality, Diversity, Inclusivity) work, not least in the wake of Black Lives Matter.

The focus on MHA (Methodist Homes) continues, with insights from the United Methodist Church in America. I have put myself forward to represent the synod at Conference 2021 (I have also offered in previous years), but the ‘competition; for this is considerable. It is good to have so many people who want to be a part of sharing in the future direction of the church, not least because this year we will be returning back to the God in Love Unites Us report, and discussions that promote ‘good relating’ and healthy relationships irrespective of whatever view we hold.

Incidentally, I was telephoned by a lady this week who was enquiring about whether the Methodist Church, or in fact any church in Peterborough, could marry her and her female partner. I was able to share where we were as a church, and to offer to meet them both, not least to encourage them pastorally. It is an interesting position to be in, but even though we continue to journey with this as individuals, and as a church, the least we can do is to show that we care about how people feel, and the struggles they face as they seek to find ways of being affirmed in themselves, and voice their commitment to a significant other in their lives.

I would continue to ask everyone to pray for the Garden House, the Night Shelter Project, and Peterborough Foodbank, as each of these projects try to discern the best way of operating and supporting ‘the poor’ in the future. Pray for all who grieve the loss of loved ones. I am also deeply concerned about the potential for an increase in poverty within individuals and families as the furlough scheme comes to and end. Mental health is also a serious concern given the shortage of resources within the NHS, the impact of Covid, and now the added facet of children and young people returning to schools having had such an extensive break from what existed before. Please pray for staff, support workers, pupils, and the families and networks of support that surround them. Our youngest started at Secondary school this week….

Please pray for your CLT who in the background have been doing a sterling job, meeting monthly on zoom and being involved in all kinds of planning that most of us won’t see. As we approach our next circuit meeting, please pray for our Property Team, and our Finance Team. Give thanks for all the successes we have seen in our local churches as leaders have made such great efforts to reach out to their membership, and their local communities, in all kinds of creative ways. Pray for our local church leaders as we discern how, and in what capacity, we emerge from the lockdown. Pray that we are attentive to what people need and are willing to start afresh as we plan worship services.

Many thanks for people’s kind words and encouragement over the Plan. Deciding that it was wiser not to publish it in its entirely, and allow space for flexibility as churches decide when they want to hold their services, and what resource they might need from us, was not easy. However, it is allowing us to incorporate requests as they surface. We are beginning to emerge from the lockdown in a socially distanced and sensible way; I have had one face to face church council at Crowland. A face to face trustees meeting in planned for Whittlesey. I visited a café worship service at Brookside before I went on leave. I have a socially distanced midweek service at Oundle today, and on Sunday I am leading communion for the first time. If you are thinking about how you may incorporate communion in your own church, it may be worth chatting to the stewards at Brookside and Crowland who have found different ways of offering this.

Livestream. We continue to broadcast prayers Monday to Thursday at 830, which keeps me honest (but demands a completely different change in routine). Sunday livestream continues at 1030. Livestream worship is functioning as a new ‘church’ on the plan as we ask readers to record themselves, and preachers to deliver their message, and we have a community that listens in and shares with each other. Although I sense that a lot of churches are loyal to the livestream, and do not want to undermine it with 1030 services, I would urge you to go ahead and arrange worship at times that work best for your congregations, and we will see how we can manage this across the plan.

Whist Dale and Grace have been able to release me to visit churches in the morning (and offer a different style and content) – we need to look at involving more people who would feel confident to host an entire act of worship. Matt Forsyth, who does a great job with All We Can, has offered to assist us. If you are interested in doing this – in hosting weekday prayers, or Sunday worship – assistance will be given – do let us know. We would not necessarily start with all the bells and whistles – prayers for example can simply come via your mobile phone stood against a set of books in a well-lit room. What people want to see is not so much our polished professionalism, but our honesty and integrity. If you feel a calling to help us make Livestream Worship happen (and by implication, help me and others be free to travel elsewhere in a morning across the circuit), please let us know. I should also give a word of thanks to Simon who during my worship monitors how people are responding across the three sites; YouTube, the Circuit Facebook Page, and my own profile. Numbers attending worship or viewing later have remained healthy. Weekly prayers are developing a significant following of anything from 18 to approaching 30 people viewing live.

 When Dale and Grace lead morning worship they prerecord the service and listen in, having allowed space for prayers. They also welcome and encourage people in the comments section. When I lead worship it is live – prerecording might be possible, but at the moment I am resistant to doing this because it could well take longer (you should see the number of takes required to record a five minute promo!), plus it adds to the workload – record a service, then lead the same service live the next day. Technically it is possible to post a video to be broadcast at a specific time, but things can quickly become complex, and more costly. So prayers please as we discern a way forward. The aim is to allow livestream worship to continue. It is a lifeline in shepherding some people who, for good reason, cannot make morning services, or any services for that matter. Meanwhile we do of course want to encourage those who can  to return to chapel. The beauty of livestream and social media is that it can be watched back.

I could continue, but I think this is a good summary of where we are at present, and where my ‘headspace’ has been. Thank your for your continued support and prayers. It has been a joy and a delight to support churches across the circuit, particularly over the conversations as we emerge from lockdown. Please do not forget that Rev Dale continues to be available to encourage people 1:1 (that may be you), especially if you are discerning where God is leading you, or you are in a group within the church who is looking to start something new, or expand that they are doing.). Remember to question what ‘hubs’ (i.e. support groups) and ‘habits’ you are offering people in your church. Also, we give thanks for Rev David, who continues to support me at Elton, and is often called upon as a source of encouragement in other churches as we seek to respond in a timely fashion to churches as they plan ahead.

To close – So Will I (100 Billion X) Hillsong – extract.

This hymn has been popular in morning prayers.

God of creation. There at the start. Before the beginning of time.
With no point of reference. You spoke to the dark. And fleshed out the wonder of light.
And as You speak. A hundred billion galaxies are born. In the vapour of Your breath the planets form. If the stars were made to worship, so will I.
I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made. Every burning star a signal fire of grace.
If creation sings Your praises, so will I

God of Your promise. You don’t speak in vain. No syllable empty or void.
For once You have spoken, all nature and science follow the sound of Your voice.
And as You speak a hundred billion creatures catch Your breath, evolving in pursuit of what You said.
If it all reveals Your nature so will I.
I can see Your heart in everything You say; every painted sky a canvas of Your grace
If creation still obeys You, so will I.

If the stars were made to worship, so will I. If the mountains bow in reverence, so will I.
If the oceans roar Your greatness, so will I. For if everything exists to lift You high, so will I.
If the wind goes where You send it, so will I. If the rocks cry out in silence, so will I.
If the sum of all our praises still falls shy. Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times.

God of salvation, you chased down my heart, through all of my failure and pride
On a hill You created the Light of the world, abandoned in darkness to die
And as You speak, a hundred billion failures disappear where You lost Your life so I could find it here
If You left the grave behind You, so will I. I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done
Every part designed in a work of art called love. If You gladly chose surrender, so will I.
I can see Your heart, a billion different ways. Every precious one, a child You died to save.
And if You gave Your life to love them so will I

Like You would again a hundred billion times.
But what measure could amount to Your desire?
You’re the One who never leaves the one behind.

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Rethinking what it means to be a Darling.

One of my abiding memories from our recent family holiday is of a boat trip to the Farne Islands during an evening. The operators offered a ‘sunset cruise’. Unfortunately, the sunset did not appear apart from one small part of the sky, and the trip as we bounced up and down in the North Sea, was less than luxury-cruise like. This said, the clouds were dramatic, and I found that every time I changed position the view was different as the light changed.

Shine?Mackrell-Hey 2020

The most powerful thing that struck me was an eery effect when the suns rays penetrated through, reflected off what seemed like an oily black sea, and illuminated the underside of the heavy cloud in the sky to the point that you could see their texture. It reminded me, in a strange way, of how as Christians we can be living in less than ideal settings, buffeted by the waves (spot the  link with this week’s gospel reading), we nonetheless have within us the light of Christ that can illuminate and beautify the storm clouds that are above us, and in doing so point to our creator. I will stop there before the poetry continues but do be encouraged.

Shine/Mackrell-Hey 2020

Another moving moment was how the story of Grace Darling (from which we have the term ‘you are such a darling’, hit home as we surveyed the rocks which tore the Forfarshire steamer apart in 1838. It was Grace who spotted the wreck from her bedroom in the early hours of the morning and alerted her Father. The storm was so bad that they deemed it unsafe for any lifeboat but nonetheless ventured out in their 6-metre rowing boat. In the first wave, Grace and her father saved three people, with Grace steadying the boat. In the second wave, they saved another four. One lifeboat, launched from the ship independently, was found later the next day.

By Thomas Musgrave Joy – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28870049

Be in no doubt, there was a tragic loss of life, and only a fraction survived. I am not sure what moved me the most; the loss of life; the fact that you could see the Grace Darling’s bedroom in the lighthouse from our boat – and the knowledge that her attentiveness saved lives; or the scale of Grace Darling’s legacy; her actions inspired our nation in the values of bravery and simple virtue – and this was compounded by the fact that it sat so uneasily on her humble shoulders. Ultimately, I feel that it was the scenery which brought the scene to life, and served as a reminder that whilst we may feel powerless in the face of a calamity, our attentiveness, and our willingness to be brave and do our part, will save lives. As I reflect today, it serves as a reminder to everyone involved in our local churches to be attentive the needs of those who surround us.  

Today, our storm is the pandemic, and we will make a difference.

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Dragonfly: A new model, developed by Rev Dale Sherriff, for exploring how as Christians we need to gather in different ways.

Emperor Dragonfly, Ken Billington, Wikipedia

There has been one recent development in the circuit that has excited me. I share it with you even though it is very much in its infancy. Last Sunday at our Pioneer Hub, Rev Dale Sherriff, one of our supernumerary ministers who was previously involved with Inspire  (the Methodist movement intent on encouraging people to grow in their discipleship and engagement with mission), shared some of his thinking about how we might encourage people across our circuit. What he had to say seemed to link well with the ‘Tending to our Roots’ aspects of our ‘Reimagine Strategy’ as we continue to look to the future. (Remember the Tree, and the questions about how we develop prayer and small groups?)

Dale’s reflection began as he questioned the different way in which, historically, we have physically gathered as a church. Whilst we cannot do this now, it seemed to me that some of what Dale had to say might be helpful for local church leaders to think about as we come out of isolation. How will we regroup? How will we gather?

As a Methodist Church, we have gathered in four distinct ways in the past. Whilst I use the historic language here, the principles remain true to our heritage.

As a Circuit (for larger gatherings – something which we reintroduced before the pandemic hit.

As local churches (as Sunday or weekday congregations)

As a Class (the class-meeting language is not often used, but in essence a class is a study and fellowship groups which has been as eqally important (if not more important) than gathering for worship services.

As a Band (again the language has fallen out of widespread use, but a band is a group of say three people who pray for each other – we might refer to this as a prayer triplet).

As for the link with the dragonfly? Well the dragonfly has four wings. Every one of them is required, but they can work together and independently. In the same way we could envisage that these are rather like the four different ways in which people can gather. I should mention of course that the pastoral system of the Methodist Church runs alongside this, but at one time all pastoral groups met as classes. Some still do of course. However, as a way of helping understand the balance we are looking for as we look to the future, this way of thinking may be helpful for many.

The words Class and Band may need revisiting. It may be that using the term Life Group might be more appropriate. Many churches offer fellowship groups, but in time, as we return from lockdown, we may want to question how we can expand and encourage the work in our existing groups. How might they be enhanced to balance spiritual nurture and fellowship? Likewise, could this be a time where we look at encouraging more prayer triplets in our churches? I love the idea of remembering, not least in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic, that Jesus promises Life in all its Fullness (John 10:10). Could these ideas help us as seek to capitalise on the increased depth and scope of engagement in our churches? I merely share this as an idea that is stirring within me….

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