Luton and Harwich

This morning I went with Revd Anne Brown to Beech Hill Methodist Church in the Luton circuit. We were to share in worship there in a united service with nearby Oakdale Church. Church stewards John and Diane Bowes helped with the service.

The church has recently been rebuilt and it now shares its site with a new GP health centre. It is a wonderfully versatile building and has the potential to become very well used by the local community. It is also intended to open the café area on a regular basis and linked to the opening of the surgery next door.

The church is working in partnership with the local United Reformed Church with the appointment of Karen Campbell, a new community worker. Karen only took up her post 2 weeks ago but intends to support a number of churches that work together in the area with various community initiatives.

This afternoon I travelled right across the District to the Essex town of Harwich on the east coast. Local Methodists were sharing in a service for the week of prayer for Christian Unity with Churches Together in the Harwich Peninsula. We gathered together at Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, Catholic Church in Dovercourt, near Harwich. It was good to worship together and to share in conversation afterwards before returning home.

The picture shows local church leaders, including Methodist ministers Rev Ian Wales and Rev Katie Jackson, Lt Andrew and Jackie Jarrold from the Salvation Army and local Catholic priest, Fr Michael Stokes.

I was told of a number of exciting initiatives taking place within the circuit including a church with just 7 members that started an arts group. A couple of years ago the group asked to meet once a month for worship structured around Sunday lunch. Now between 40 and 50 people regularly worship together in this café-style church and they’ve even asked to share in a Covenant service.