London to Brighton!

David and I had a great time on the first Sunday of our new connexional year. We shared in the morning worship at Wesley's Chapel with over 300 people from many parts of the world. It was wonderful to meet so many people who have now made this their home church as well as others who were visiting from abroad or elsewhere in Britain. There was an International Lunch afterwards and the tables were groaning with so many different kinds of food from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific and even a few quiches from Britain..... In the evening we shared in a healing service at Westminster Central hall with over 80 people in the beautiful chapel. Here again there was a good mix of ages, cultures, visitors and regular members. Both these churches are excellent examples of the Church engaging with the local community and seeking to be relevant to their local situations. There was a real sense of excitment and vibrancy. David took lots of photos so i hope he will post some of them in the next couple of days.

We travelled down to Brighton on the Monday to spend 24 hours at the TUC Conference. We met a number of thekey officals of the TUC who willingly gave of their time to share with us and all were open to continuing dialogue and partnership where we could work together on specific issues. Again and again, especially when we met with Dave Prentice the TUC president, we were reminded of our common heritage and how the Trade Union movement owes so much of their origins to Methodism. I wonder how many of our members are still involved at the different local, regional and national levels?

I am now in Cornwall for a District visit but specifically to share in the Induction of the new Chair, the Rev Steve Wild. It is going to be a very special service and I am sure it will be fun....so keep reading and you may get some surprising photos!

Starting up

It is not a surprise that the beginning of the Connexional year sees a quickening of pace all round.

Sunday was the last time I will be in my own Circuit for several weekends now. I was leading the service at Emmanuel in Salford a newly formed Methodist Anglican LEP which is in the midst of a very significant building programme.

There was a good number there including a dog who was described as one of the best behaved members of the congregation - which I can now vouch for!

They still have many challenges ahead of them and I know will be supported by the prayers of the Connexion as they make real their exciting plans to be a witnessing and serving community in the heart of this inner city area.

In the evening I was at my own Church for a service led by one of our Circuit staff and the tireless minister at Emmanuel, Ken Stokes. He is one of the most thoughtful and inspiring preachers I know, not least because his preaching arises naturally and directly from the work he and the congregation are doing among asylum seekers, the elderly and the young.

I know that often our Circuit ministers - presbyters and deacons and lay workers too - find themselves in a rut or frustrated by the limited vision of some of us who are their lay colleagues . It has always seemed to me that Circuit ministry is a task where it is possible to do the least that is necessary and at the other end of the spectrum to be in danger of burn-out.

We owe a great debt and a greater pastoral care to those many ministers who give their all - and more in some cases - to the service of the Church and their community.

Certainly a number of ministers told me how refreshing it was to spend a couple of days in Durham at the launch of the new Faith and Order Network later in the week. With keynote speakers such as Bishop Tom Wright and Professor Frances Young there was much to be refreshed and stimulated by.

We were concentrating on doing theology in multi-cultural Britain and in the public sphere; I was particularly interested in unwrapping what we we mean by having a cultural identity. Bev Thomas, who was born in Birmingham to Jamaican parents, spoke of how she lives with two identities - Caribbean and British - and that both of these help to make up who she is, even though at times they are in tension.

At the same time, being in Durham we could not fail to be aware of the centuries-long tradition of prayer and holiness in which we stand ; Norman Wallwork and Anne Topping took me on a pre-breakfast pilgrimage to the tomb of the Venerable Bede who lies in one of the chapels of the great Norman Cathedral.

The Network will involve many more people in reviewing the theological content of what appears in our reports and statements - ranging from our ethical discussion of human embryology to what we mean by Church Membership. But I hope it will also help to build bridges for all of us who want to make sense of how the Bible and Christian tradition relates to our contemporary society and the search for meaning which we all share.

Pete Phillips and Jane Craske (Faith and Order Committee Secretary and Chair) and their helpers deserve our thanks for launching the Network in style.

(Alan Bolton, Karen McBride and Martin Ramsden, members of the Network, are pictured above)

The other main event of the week was the Service to mark the beginning of the Methodist Year for members of the Connexional Team, held simultaneously in Manchester and London. I was delighted to be able to lead the service in Manchester and to meet members of the Resourcing Mission team there and the staff of the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. Thanks to Martin Attfield for organising the service locally and to the President and Chris Elliott for devising it.

It's always good to discover hidden talents, in this case the pianistic skills of Alan Pimlott who leads the Property team and provided the music for the service.

bits and pieces

Since returning from Tonga I have shared in a number of special events. I spent 24 hours with those on the 'Welcome to Britain course'which is held for those ministers and their families who are coming to serve among us in the Methodist Church in Britain. There were people from different parts of Africa as well as the USA. Most of them had just arrived and came straight to Whirlow Grange in Sheffield and despite the jet lag enjoyed being introduced to life here in the UK and the Church in particular.
Please pray for them all and in particvlular for Jospeh & Catherine Gomez and their two children Joshua (7) and Lucy (2) from The Gambia. On the first day Lucy was rushed into hospital and she and her mum were still there at the end of the 4 days.

I was honoured to be asked to dedicate the refurbishment work and share in the Opening of the Fox Street Communioty. This is housed in the basement of the Central Methodist Church in Preston where for over 20 years there has been a ministry among the homeless people of the city. Some unexpected government funding became available to transform this 30 bedded dormitory style centre into a purpose developed modern facility offering single rooms for 20 homeless people. Here was a wonderful example of our Church engaging with society in the inner city.

On Saturday I was opening the Heysham Methodist church's redevelpoped premises. It was a great occasion and the photo tells a story. In my first few weeks of being a Chair of District 8 years ago we hosted the President of Conference, the Rev Inderjit Bhogal. The week of his visit the Methodist Church in the west end of Morecambe was destroyed by fire and he was due to lead a service in the circuit that Sunday morning. We stopped off at the burnt out church and Inderjit took two pieces of the charred wood and carried it to the church service at Heysham. He presented this to them as a symbol of remembrance in the months that lay ahead. Most of the congregation from the destroyed church settled into the church at Heysham which had a very small congregation at the time. 8 years later it is now a large thriving church with a set of larger modern premises and the charred wooden cross stands at the newly created entrance as a reminder that out of death comes resurrection.



I post this on the 1st of September and wish all who read this a happy new connexional year

Greenbelters

Last weekend was spent at Greenbelt the Christian music and arts festival which for the last ten years has been held at Cheltenham racecourse.

It was my first visit there and I had been encouraged to think about going by the young people of my own Church at Monton (pictured left with Liz and Clive Nulty and Anne Huddleston) who had decided to camp. I am much more nesh (a Northern expression) and plumped for a local B and B!

Methodists were well represented and in addition to my predecessors Ruby Beech and Dudley Coates I was pleased to meet up with Karen and Melvyn Kelly and their young daughter Naomi (left).

Greenbelt attracts about 20,000 people of all ages and it has a very welcoming and safe feel about it - even the local pirates are friendly (Colin Smith pictured below in alternative liturgical dress).

The range of activity on offer is amazing -from African drumming to Gregorian chanting (which was so popular I couldn't find a place on the floor). On Saturday afternoon I went to an excellent workshop on theatre directing led by Esther Baker who produces plays with prisoners.

The talks and debates were equally diverse and I enjoyed both Joel Edwards of the Evangelical Alliance and John Bell of the Iona Community - stimulating and well earthed.

Four Christian MP's from different parties were interviewed by Simon Mayo and spoke of how their shared prayer fellowship had enabled them to produce a report on wellbeing in society earlier this year- a positive Christian contribution to the ongoing debate, which arose out of a concern that the Church was too often seen as being negative in its criticism rather than offering constructive alternatives.

Performers from Beth Rowley and Jose Gonzalez to yFriday held the Mainstage each evening whilst elsewhere you could sample a couple of different bands or performers every hour of the day or night so it seemed.
Worship centred on the Communion service on Sunday afternoon but there were many other opportunities to experience a rich variety of prayer and more experimental worship, including a 6 am sunrise service - attended by a goodly number according to early risers Ruby and Garry.

The whole event is well organised and staffed by helpful volunteers; there are good partnerships with Christian Aid and others. There are many fair trade and ethical trading stalls to sample and buy from - as well as a good selection of eateries.

The verdict from our own young people was clear - they all wanted to go again next year!

The crowning of the king!

It was a great privilege to be asked to represent our Church at the Coronation of King George Tupou V in Tonga. Four of us went together - Myrtle (my wife), Chris Elliot (External Relationships Secretary) and Steve Pearce (Asia and Pacific area sec) to spend time with the Methodist Church in New Zealand and then on to a week in Tonga at the beginning of August.



Tonga is a beautiful island


and as we arrived there was a real sense of excitement as people were returning from all over the world for this special celebration.


The Methodist Church has been part of Tongan society since the first missionaries arrived on the island in 1826. and been the 'main denomination', almost like a state Church. The previous King was a local preacher and many of the royal family are committed members of the Free Wesleyan Methodist Church

There is normally a year's mourning before a new king is crowned but the period this time was longer. Part of this was due to some riots months ago wanting more democracy - the king has appointed a privy council and there are already signs of change that were welcomed by those we spoke with. The press in New Zealand were fairly negative about the Coronation due to the lavishness and high cost of the week's celebrations.

However we found the local Tongan people excited and wanting the coronation to be as good as it could be...as some said it will be the only one we share in.









There was the traditional Kava Installation Ceremony where the new king was honoured by the nobles and installed into the tradtional title of King Kanokupola making him the 23rd holder of that title as the head of a dynasty which was founded in the 17th century. The nobles all bring gifts and the picture shows all the pigs and food which was presented to the king.





The Coronation was held in the main Methodist Church in the capital Nuku'alofa with over 1000 people i n attendance. there was royalty from around the world, lots of dignitaries....and us!


We were told just as we left London that it was top hat and tails so we had to hire these in New Zealand and the photo shows how wonderful we looked!












We had seats on the front row and saw the anointing, crowning and communion but couldn't take any photos. The new King, George Tupou V, looked very elegant. There was a lovely moment at the height of the coronation two small page girls (both royals) were so bored they were changing shoes with each other right in front of us!












The banquet was held in the Palace and we walked there amid the thousands of people li9ning the streets.

We had a wander around the Palace

and suddenly Myrtle turned round and was face to face with the king...so she started chatting him up and we managed to get some good photos.

















The tables at the feats were literally groaning with food - all laid out and covered with young women by each table wafting away the flies. Each tables of 10 people had at least two roasted pigs,lobster, octopus, yams, meats, coconuts, salads, fruits and so much more.






























The whole week we were there we were treated like royalty ourselves by the Church in Tonga. For them it was a very special statement that the British church had sent their President to be with them at this special moment in their nations life. Please remember the people of Tonga in your prayers and for their new king that he will rule with love, justice and integrity and pray especially for the Methodist family there.....(day 25 in the new Prayer Handbook)

Coronation of a King

Sorry to have been quiet for a while but I have been out of the country for over three weeks. I have been at a most memorable event in Tonga representing the Methodist Church at the coronation of the new king of Tonga, George Tupou V. It was a real privilege to be there and was made even more special for me as I was asked to preach at the Coronation Sunday Service. We have been hosted by a lovely family Hoi and Nunia Mone at Tupou College - their son in law plays for the All Blacks so we watched with real joy when they thrashed the Wallabies in the tri-nation series!

I have lots of pictures which I will post, next week with a more detailed accpunt of Tonga, when Myrtle and I return home. We are in Palm Springs, California at the moment having a holiday on our way back to Preston - and it is hot at an average of 110!!

With ABMY in Dorset

Abseiling, quad-biking, dragonboat racing - these were just some of the activies available at the PGL camp in Weymouth which was the setting for this year's ABMY Conference.

The Association of Black Methodist Youth Clubs is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and it was great to see 130 young people enjoying themselves in a diverse programme of worship, activity, discussion and fun!

Their ages range from 12 to mid-twenties and most of the groups came from Churches around London though I was pleased to meet one young fellow Mancunian.

The Conference sessions were ably chaired by Jenni Codrington the outgoing AMBY President; Rachel Coates was there from the Methodist Youth Executive to explain the Methodist Church's new Youth Participation Strategy and encouraged members to become involved in it.

It was good to meet up again with Winnie Gasa who had spoken so helpfully at the Methodist Conference on gang violence in inner-city areas. ABMY members were given the opportunity to talk about the Church's response having listened to Edward Johnson, whose brother Edvin was brutally killed outside his home only a few months ago. Edward spoke with great honesty about his own struggles in trying to deal with what had happened - how strong natural urges to want to take revenge were in conflict with what he believed God wanted.

The ABMY has already stimulated a resolution to the Scarborough Conference which means that knife and gun crime - and all the social and spiritual issues which surround it - are firmly on the Church's agenda.


We know that there are no easy answers or quick solutions but in talking to a number of youth leaders there I became aware of the significant work among young people that our Church and others are aleady doing.


Again it is easy to undervalue the impact of adults who commit their time and energy to leading youth clubs and fellowships and are giving young people the space to grow up in a safe but stretching environment - there is no substitute for the giving of this sort of practical care for the health of our society.


Both the ABMY Conference and Breakout a couple of weeks ago were impressive examples of this - and I was pleased to express the thanks of all the Methodist people to Eric Mustapha and the ABMY executive and all those leaders who were responsible for organising this event, and for all the work that they do in their local communities during the rest of the year.


It has been good to have such a youthful start to the year and I look forward to meeting others who are involved in a whole variety of children's and youth work as we continue our travels.