To be a pilgrim

From Tuesday until Friday this week I have been at Rydal Hall, Grasmere with 40 women from the five northern districts (Shetland, Scotland, Newcastle, Darlington and Cumbria) leading a retreat about pilgrimage.  Not so much about how to do pilgrimage as about how to adopt “Pilgrim Attitudes” in our lives.  Our mornings have been spent in study, reflection, discussion and some silence on these themes.

Rydal Hall is a wonderful venue set in beautiful grounds (with its own waterfall) and the surrounding area has also offered opportunities to walk “in the footsteps of the poets and writers”, with visits on Wednesday afternoon to places associated with Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. 

On Thursday afternoon groups ventured out in different directions to experience the “Sacred Centre” of our pilgrimage together, some walked to St. Bega’s Chapel, others visited Allen Bank, some chose to remain in Rydal Hall’s own quiet garden.  

I was part of a small group making a mini-pilgrimage to the nearby Rydal Cave, which was indeed cavernous.  Great to stop to pray, sing and reflect along the way – then there were the unexpected encounters with people along the way including a Methodist from Maryland, USA and a family whose roots were in Methodism in Roker and who were amazed to discover that members of our group also originated there!  Coincidences?  Serendipity?  The Holy Spirit?    

Our Cumbrian hosts have been assembling a Fellowship Quilt for some years, started through their strong partnership connections with Methodist women in Argentina, and this time the “visiting” districts were invited to bring squares along to contribute.  I was delighted to discover that the making of my Methodist Tartan kilt (my wonderful gift from the Methodist Church in Scotland) had created the opportunity for the Scottish women to purloin a square of this tartan as their contribution - and very smart it looks too!

Our final morning at Rydal Hall began with an unplanned gathering in the courtyard as the fire alarm sounded at 6:40am.  Thankfully no fire and no rain, so an opportunity for grace and fellowship!

On Saturday I will be attending the Memorial Service for Pauline Webb in Wesley’s Chapel, London – a great privilege to do so – more of this in due course.

 Jill 

Religious persecution in Sri Lanka

06 July 2017

The Revd Loraine N Mellor, President of the Methodist Conference, has written to MP Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, expressing the concern of the Methodist Church over the escalating level of religious persecution in Sri Lanka.

The letter was in response to a Notice of Motion received by the Methodist Conference, which met in Birmingham last week (22-29 June). At the Conference, members heard of the ongoing situation from the President-Bishop of the Sri Lankan Methodist Church, the Revd Asiri P Perera. 

You can find out more about the situation by reading the  Notice of Motion and watching the relevant section of the Conference proceedings at 1 hour and 19 minutes in  this video clip.

In the letter to the Secretary of State, the President highlighted the recent attacks against places of worship in Sri Lanka and asked for appropriate representations to be made to the Government of Sri Lanka. The Methodist Conference called on all Methodist people to act for justice, peace and freedom and to hold the people of Sri Lanka in their prayers.

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I had the opportunity to talk privately to Bishop Perera about this and I know he would value our prayers for this escalating situation. 

Loraine 

My first visit as President happened on Saturday the 1st of July to Lidgett Park in Leeds to share in the celebration of the district before a new district is formed in September, Yorkshire West. It was a joy to meet colleagues I had served with in previous districts and to meet many people who had been at conference last week or who had been watching on line. 

After a very splendid tea, the worship began with a very moving prayer reflection with photographs of the district. We then encountered the many ways in which the district engaged with the world church and we received greetings in person from Bishop Asiri Perera from Sri Lanka when we learned that the very first Methodist missionary to Sri Lanka was from Leeds. Deacon Jenny Jones shared with us the many ways in which the district engages in mission before we heard about chaplaincy in the university and the airport. 

The Wesley and the Ashfield singers graced our worship which was led by Revd Anne Brown the district chair and it was good to have four Vice Presidents all resident in the district with us Professor and Mrs Susan Howdle, Dr Edmund Marshall and Dr Richard Vautrey. Our reading from the Gospel of Luke was read to us by Revd Roger Ducker a previous chair of district and it was really good to catch up wit Revd Dr Liz Smith also previous chair. looking so well. Brian Hoare’s hymn ‘Looking back but moving forward’ was sung with great gusto before the Gaelic blessing by Rutter.
A very important occasion when the connexion through the presidency was represented on such a significant moment in the life of the district as it moves to a new beginning. I was struck with and thought how pertinent the last verse of Brian’s hymn was:

Looking back but moving forward
as we celebrate today.
giving thanks for all that’s past, we
pledge ourselves to walk your way.
Holy Spirit , lead us onward;
keep is faithful to your call.
May this ever spur our mission:
Jesus Christ is Lord of all! 

God bless

Loraine

The Shetlands: Island Methodism and my second encounter with sheep

I arrived in the Shetlands just as the national weather forecast was warning of extreme weather in the north of the UK.  My visit there showed that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing!   Luckily the warmth of my clothes along with the welcome of the people there made this a really special visit for me.

Methodism came to the Shetland Islands in the 1820s with John Nicholson, a former soldier, who returned home to Shetland and began preaching.  Very early on, the Methodist Conference provided practical support, in the form of ministers to station and additional funding.  This recognition of the particular needs of Methodism in these islands has continued with additional financial support for the ministers stationed here, and a recognition that a higher proportion of ministers is needed than the membership might suggest.

The islands are run by the Shetland Islands Council.  With a population of under 25,000 this would be the equivalent of a small town council.  Yet it owns ferry services and power companies, runs schools (with boarding pupils), and does all the things that a large metropolitan borough would be expected to do.  Together with Revd Andrew Fox, the Superintendent of the Shetlands, I met with Malcolm Bell, the elected Convenor of the Council and Frank Robertson, a Methodist member and councillor, and learned about the issues facing the islands’ population.  The meeting ended with an invitation from Mr Bell to explore more of the ways in which the Churches and the Council could work together.

The Shetlands are rich in their archaeological history, with Iron Age and Viking settlements.  The Shetland Archaeologist, Dr Val Turner, is a Methodist and is much respected internationally for her contribution to the understanding of Shetland history.  Val took us on a tour of Old Scatness where she led the excavations beginning in the 1990s.  At the centre is a large Broch, a form of tower found around the Shetlands and beyond, surrounded by round dwellings.  At the corner of the site a dwelling has been reconstructed to give a sense of the way people lived.  It was so cold, with snow and hail falling – I was wearing six layers of clothing yet I still felt numb – I did wonder how people used to cope before the invention of central heating and Gortex.

On Tuesday I went to the farthest reaches of the Islands.  Andrew drove me, via two ferries, to the island of Unst.  I met folk at the most northerly Methodist Church, Haroldswick.  This church was re-built a few years ago, and the members of the church did it all themselves.  It is a much loved place.  Then we drove onto the island of Yell and met people at East Yell Methodist Church.  They are a tiny chapel, facing all the challenges of small societies everywhere and more, but I had a real sense that they are up for growth.  They are looking at ways in which they can reach out to their small community, offering love and sharing the good news.  In the evening I joined a small bible study at North Roe, near where the Atlantic meets the North Sea, and again witnessed the desire of these people to engage with the bible and respond to the love of God.

On Wednesday I visited a Methodist local preacher, Alma, who lives on a croft.  She soon had me kitted out in wellies and waterproof trousers, and we went off to feed the ducks and hens and collect eggs.  Then she gave me a shepherd’s crook, and had me catching a young lamb, just a few hours old, and iodine its cord.  My second encounter as Vice-President, after my West Yorkshire visit, with a newborn lamb!  Alma spoke about the hard life experienced by crofters, most of whom also maintain at least one other job in order to earn a living.  But she also spoke movingly about the delight and privilege of living close to the land, seeing the birds and animals around her. 

In the evening I joined the well-attended Shetland Easter Offering service.  I spoke about my visit to the Church of Pakistan last year, about the experiences of Christians there and the way in which the British Methodist Church World Church Fund supports the work of the Church.  The Shetland Island Methodists, with a membership of just over 200 people, raised an astonishing £1,500 for the World Church Fund, a real example of the generosity of the people on the islands.

The British Methodist Church has a history of supporting Methodism in the Shetland Islands, and it is good to see this continuing with the imminent arrival of a new probationer, who I met at Queens earlier in the year.  The membership may be small, but it is disproportionate in terms of population and strong in faith.

Thank you to Andrew and Susie Fox, and all the people who welcomed me with such generous hospitality.

The Half Shilling Curate

This book was sent to me by the author, Sarah Reay, the granddaughter of the Revd Herbert Cowl aka The Half Shilling Curate.  It tells the story of him as a young Wesleyan minister, serving as an Army Chaplain in WW1. It is carefully researched and lovingly written.  Sarah is fortunate to have many original letters and photographs from Herbert and his family, which makes the narrative come alive. You often feel you are listening in to conversations that took place 100 years ago.  At the same time, she has found corroborative evidence from a range of sources, ensuring that this personal story is anchored in the wider historical context and the Wesleyan Church of the era.

I found it an easy read, which helped me to glimpse something of the work of those early chaplains. Herbert and many others won much admiration from the serving men for their bravery in being alongside them in the trenches and tending to their practical, pastoral and spiritual needs.

The most moving part of the story, for me, was when Herbert was being transported home after a sudden and serious injury (Chapters 5 and 6).  The hospital ship carrying the wounded was hit by a mine, four miles off Dover and the 400 injured men on board were in danger of being lost in the sinking ship or in the freezing ocean.  Barely able to walk and having witnessed horrific scenes, Herbert finds himself trapped in a dead-end corridor with water rising.  Not only did he manage to get to the deck but he also got life rafts into the sea for a group whose lifeboat had failed.  Although 139 of the 400 people died that day, the death toll would, almost certainly, have been higher had it not been for his swift and self-sacrificing action.  For this, he received the Military Cross. 

The Methodist Church Heritage News has featured this book in its Autumn edition (2016) because it tells something of our rich history as a Church.  For in addition to Herbert’s story, there is a tribute to many others with whom he served.  The account also gives some insight into the training and stationing of ministers and the work of the Wesleyan Church in a time of war.  

Not many in Methodism have experienced the work of chaplains first hand.  I would be one of those, having never served in the military and never having been a chaplain to the forces.  But having recently spent a few days with the RAF chaplains in East Anglia, I am full of respect for this group of people and what they bring to this sphere of life and work.

I commend this book to you.

Rachel Lampard's address to the annual Methodist Parliamentary Covenant Service - 17 January 2017

“Let me be laid aside for you”

If you believe the old adage about not mixing religion and politics, then I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place.  This chapel is at the heart of our Parliament.  And I’m certainly the wrong person to ask to speak today. For nearly 17 years I’ve been helping the Methodist Church to do politics. 

So you’ll have guessed that not only do I think that religion and politics can mix, but rather I believe that taking politics seriously as people of faith is part of our calling. 

For we are a people who worship a God of justice, an incarnate God, whose Spirit offers transformation.  So how can we say religion and politics don’t mix?!

The Methodist Covenant service is a very special time in our Methodist year, an opportunity to affirm the loving relationship in to which God has called us. 

Every year when I say the Covenant prayer, particular words leap out, and they’re often different words each year.  I don’t know if you find the same.  Sometimes a phrase resonates, sometimes one consoles, sometimes another jars.  This year a phrase has pained me.  They are the words “let me be laid aside for you”.

Now let’s be clear.  Being laid aside in this context does not mean being discarded or judged to be useless.  Rather I think it means for whatever reason, the things we have associated with our calling no longer seem to have a clear context or be sustainable. 

At first the resonance of this phrase for me may seem strange.  I’ve never been busier than I have been this year.  I have been so privileged to be in the role as Vice-President of the Church, and to have the opportunity to witness what God is doing in and through God’s people in this country and in other parts of the world. I’ve been able to listen, speak and learn.  The President and I have had the chance to explore our theme of holiness and justice with people from around the Connexion.  I have a suitcase permanently packed, and I need to plant roughly a tree a week to cancel out my carbon footprint over the course of the year.

So why does the phrase “Let me be laid aside for you” feel so painful?  Well this is where it gets personal.  I voted to remain.  I think that President Trump is a terrifying prospect.  And I’m a member of a political party which some may say is in the doldrums. 

For someone who has such a high belief in the worth of political engagement this is a tough place to be. 

I’ve always felt my role within the church, encouraging Christians to make the links between faith and life, to be a vocation.  And I feel passionately that my beliefs – religious and political – are rooted in my response to the love of God.

And now I find myself in a position where I have – politically – been laid aside.  We hear that the British people have spoken.  And I feel outside that definition of “the people”.  Things which I feel are unacceptable are creeping towards the norm.  And political power – the way of bringing about change – feels beyond reach.

Now at this point I should say that I wholly accept that many of you here will be in a different place.   And will hold very different beliefs with passion and integrity. I am very privileged to count as friends and fellow Christians people with whom I profoundly disagree politically, and am honoured that some are here this evening. 

And I suppose my pain could come from a realisation that I am wrong.  Politics is, after all, a human endeavour.  As much as we yearn to understand the mind of God, we are never going to bring about the kingdom of God through a party manifesto.

And yet.  We are political beings, and this is the way in which we choose how we order our world.  The sense of being “laid aside” from this is, for me, painful.

Having wrestled with this in the light of saying the Covenant prayer, I think there are (in a Methodist fashion) three reflections.

Firstly we are here for the Methodist covenant service, not the Methodist contract service.  Ken Howcroft, a former President of Conference, once described his understanding of the difference between the two as being that a contract sets out how the future will work.  Whereas a covenant involves setting off together, into an unknown future, but promising to walk together whatever comes. 

Early versions of the Covenant service included words that were very similar to the marriage service – for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. This covenant, this relationship, is for the good and bad times. 

We are promising to abide with God – notice the frequent use of the word in the passage from John.  That is where we remain, abiding in God’s love, through the good times, the bad times, the times of power and the times of pain. 

So firstly God does not abandon us, but abides with us, for, in that very tender phrase, he has written his promise on our hearts.

Secondly the Covenant prayer reminds us of the corporate nature of this covenant relationship.  Although the prayer is in the first person we will be saying it together, as the people of God,

·        people who voted different ways,

·        people who are members of different parties,

·        politicians, and people for whom this is the first time in Parliament,

·        ministers and lay people, Methodists, Anglicans, Baptists

·        ...and those who may be searching or wondering.  

In the passage from Deuteronomy we heard that all those assembled were part of the covenantal relationship with God – “the leaders of your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your women, and the aliens who are in your camp, both those who cut your wood and those who draw your water”. 

Everyone, even those on the edge, is invited into a covenant relationship with God. 

 And our relationship with God means we are in relationship one with another.  Those who are employed for God are in relationship with those who are laid aside for God.  Party politics are never more important than the relationship that we are offered as part of the body of Christ.

So secondly we are all part of the vine, in relationship with God and with one another.

Finally the Covenant prayer reminds us that there is a time for being laid aside, for suffering or being done to, for being empty, for having nothing. 

But this is not God rejecting us or what we offer. For when we are in these places we can be there for – and with - God. 

Perhaps we sometimes have an expectation of power and influence, just look around at the venue we’re in today.  Perhaps we expect to be listened to and taken seriously.  Perhaps we’re not used – as churches or as individuals – to being on the margins ...of politics, of society, of our church. 

But it’s not always a bad thing to be at the margins.  And who says that change can’t come from there? 

Indeed Methodism started in the margins – small groups, outside the power structures of the church, preaching the love of God to the poorest and most marginalised in society, raising up people as lay preachers, as itinerant ministers to spread scriptural holiness throughout the land. 

And when you’re on the margins you can always look around and see whom else God has placed there. 

For the Covenant prayer is not passive.  It’s not about sitting still where we end up.  It is about being offered renewal in Jesus Christ.  It’s about opening ourselves up to the greatest transformation of all, through the love of God.  Because vines bear beautiful fruit. 

So from this sense of being laid aside comes awareness that God does not abandon us but holds us in loving relationship.  We are all part of the vine together, one with another and with God.  And that being at the margins can be fruitful.

Whether this year you feel you are being employed, laid aside, exalted or brought low, I pray that you will experience renewal and growth in Jesus Christ, and be fruitful, be it at the centre, or at the margins. 

For ultimately the most glorious truth is there in the words that we will say together in a few moments.  “He is ours and we are his.  So be it”.

Amen

Baked beans and wetsuits

Yesterday afternoon I could have been wearing a wetsuit and white water rafting down the Lee River to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday.  But with rain and a temperature of 5 degrees I was only partially sorry that I had a prior engagement at the Whitechapel Mission for its annual service.

The Mission provides breakfast to around 300 people a day, many of whom are sleeping rough, all of whom are homeless or vulnerable.  People for whom rain, cold temperatures and the dangers of the street are more than just a nuisance. As I was told yesterday, the Mission saves lives.

Earlier in the week I went to visit Whitechapel Mission to see them in operation.  I arrived at 8am, the centre was already full of people hungry and ready for breakfast, and the kitchen was staffed with volunteers cooking more eggs than I’ve ever seen in my life.  Each day, 365 days a year, teams of volunteers from city businesses, churches and beyond turn up at 5.45 to start preparing breakfast.  Cups of tea and coffee are served from 6am, with breakfast available for 50p (or free if people can’t afford it) from 8am. 

People can have showers at the centre, and are given clean clothes from the vast clothing store, as well as personal items such as toothbrushes or razors.  The “Life Centre” is open later in the morning, offering help and advice – locating birth certificates so that people can claim the benefits they’re entitled to, helping to get people into hostels, referring people to drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Sue Miller, Centre Manager
(and her fabulous shoes!)

The Mission is an impressive feat of organisation – feeding huge numbers of vulnerable people, co-ordinating thousands of volunteers, receiving – and sorting - donations of food and clothing from churches all over the country. 

But it is so much more than that.  As I said in my reflections at the service, it is the Church in action; it is an outworking of God’s love.  People in terrible situations are welcomed, known by name, helped to cope and to overcome huge obstacles, to see that things can be different.  The mission statement says: Since 1876, The Whitechapel Mission has been called to serve the men and women caught in the cycles of poverty, hopelessness and dependencies of many kinds, and to see their lives transformed to hope, joy and lasting productivity. Tony Miller, director of the Mission, said to me that it is vital that the two elements of the Mission – the worship and the charity – are not seen separately.  Both are church.

Rev John Hayes, who
is minister at Whitechapel
Mission and chaplain to the
guests and staff.

Rough sleeping is rising across the country, as are the numbers of homeless people in temporary accommodation.  Over the last year, the Centre has seen a third more people than it did the previous year.  All at a time when prices are going up and budgets are shrinking. 

When I visited the Mission last Tuesday the church sanctuary was piled high with crates of food which had been donated from church harvest festivals.  Yesterday it was a calm and welcoming worship space once more.  But we were told that the tins of baked beans from harvest festivals, which in previous years had seen them through the year, were already running low, and there was also a desperate need for razors. 

The Mission depends entirely on voluntary donations.  So how about donating the cost of a couple of catering tins of baked beans and a packet of razors?  And in rain and cold temperatures pray for those who cannot escape them.

You can find  out more here https://whitechapel.org.uk/ and donate here https://whitechapel.org.uk/donate/online

Thank you to Tony and Sue Miller, Revd John Haynes, Keith Aldred and the many others who give time and support to the work of the Mission.