Talkin' About My Regeneration

I’m a massive Doctor Who fan, as some of you may know.  Not one of those Jonny Come Lately fans who started watching in 2005 and jumped on the popularity bandwagon but a long-term hard core Whovian, having watched since the 1972 Jon Pertwee adventure ‘Day of The Daleks’.  One of the things I love most about the series is the concept of regeneration; of being changed and transformed into somebody new.

I feel that I’ve undergone something of a regeneration myself over the past year since I began my training as a Student Minister in the Methodist Church of Great Britain.  This is, of course, the whole purpose of the ministerial formation process I’m going through and, indeed, part of being a Christian; to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ (not that I’m anywhere near that at all, yet).

When I left for College I had lots of advice from different people, mostly along the lines of, “We’ve seen a few people go off to train to be ministers and they’ve changed.  Don’t let them change you!”  Well, sorry, but they have changed me, or rather Christ working through the lives of the tutors and fellow students has changed me.  People I’ve met over the summer on at my home church have said that I’ve changed and changed for the better.

In some ways I’m still the same.  My desire to preach the undiluted word of God fearlessly and without favour has not changed and my desire to win souls for Jesus is still as strong as ever, if not stronger.  What has changed is my approach to life.  My faith has increased incredibly this past year and more and more I view the world with theological eyes; my first response to anything now is to think about what God is saying in this situation or how the scriptures apply here.  I’ve been told I’m a lot calmer, a lot more patient and generally more relaxed.  I’m still me, but a better me, a regenerated me who celebrates all that God has done in my life over the past year but realises that I still have a long way to go!

God doesn’t want to stop us being ourselves, he created us as unique individuals and he loves us just as we are, though he loves us too much to leave us as we are.  He wants to change us and make us liker Christ, but not to be clones of Christ.  He wants me to be the most Christ like Rick I can be and he wants you to be the most Christ like you that you can be!

An Unhappy Birthday and a Prayer Request

Yesterday afternoon I was in Bispham, which for those of you who don’t know is literally next to Blackpool on the North West coast of England; in fact it merges with Blackpool so that the two are not really seen separately anymore.

Anyway, that’s not the point of the story.  I was walking down the street eating a Twister lolly to try and cool down a bit when I saw a drunk staggering towards me.  He was built like the side of a barn and had a can of cider clutched in his hand.  Now I don’t know about you, but when I see what appears to be a belligerent drunk with large muscles weaving his way towards me I get a tad nervous.

The guy came right up to me and grabbed me by the hand and as he did so I noticed that there were tears in his eyes.  He said, in a slightly slurred voice, “It’s my birthday today and I’ve just found out my mum has cervical cancer!”

What do you say in such a situation?  It’s hard enough when you are preparing for a pastoral visit with somebody who has received bad news, but to be suddenly confronted with it from the mouth of a complete stranger is a different matter altogether….

I did the only thing I could.  I said, “I’m so sorry to hear that.  I don’t know if it means anything to you, but I’m a Christian and I’d like to pray for your ,mum if that’s OK.”

His reaction took me totally by surprise.  He wrapped me in a big, slightly too tight, bear hug and thanked me profusely, tears running down his face.  You’d have thought I’d offered him the cure for cancer so grateful did he seem.

The guy, whose name I never got, then went on his way before I had chance for further conversation.  His mum’s name is Gladys.  Please pray for her, for healing and comfort and please pray for the man I met.  The prayer of a believing Christian is one of the most powerful things in the world  and whilst we will never know the results of our prayers for Gladys and her son I believe that it will make a difference in both their lives.

Beef Stew, Rice Pudding & A ‘Happy Days’ Annual

As my regular readers will know I’m on placement at the moment on a Methodist Circuit in North West England.

Today I had a whistle-stop tour with the Superintendent Minister to give me an idea of what a Super’s day can involve.  We started off with the Luncheon Club at one of his churches, which runs every Tuesday and serves a delicious hot two course meal at cost price.  Those dining were a mixture of church members and the local community.  We were treated to beef stew, potatoes, string beans and carrots.  For desert there was creamy rice pudding with home-made jam!  What made it special though wasn’t the food, delicious though it was, but the conversations and warm welcome.  I chatted to several people and they all told me how much they valued the lunch club.  For some of the elderly diners it was the only time they would leave their homes this week.  What a fantastic way for this church to serve their local community and demonstrate Christian love in a very practical way!

There is something spiritual about this too.  Jesus often sat down to eat with people and table fellowship was a very big part of his ministry.  He offered hospitality too, providing wine at a wedding and cooking fish for his disciples on the shores of Galilee.  I think that simple hospitality is important for churches, not just as a way of serving the community but because the sharing of food helps to break down barriers and can lead to new or renewed relationships.

So what about the ‘Happy Days’ Annual?

The second visit of the day was to a Thrift Shop at another church.  The Thrift Shop is a bit like a charity shop, selling donated goods.  It was held in the church hall and was full of people busily sorting through goods when we arrived.  There were clothes, CDs and DVDs, books, toys and other assorted goods.  Amongst the books was the ‘Happy Days’ Annual with a picture of a grinning Fonz on the cover, but I resisted the temptation to buy it and wallow in childhood nostalgia!  The prices are a lot lower than a charity shop and whilst the church does make money from the Thrift Shop and considers it an income stream the primary purpose is service to the community; selling goods at prices people can afford so that they can have decent clothes etc.

A church should be serving its community.  I was uplifted by the service I saw in action today and hope that others are inspired to follow their examples and reach out to their own communities, just as Jesus reached out and served those around him.

Size Really Doesn't Matter

This reflection isn’t about what you might think it is.

When we think about worshipping churches I guess most of us think of churches with a couple of hundred or more people (perhaps even thousands).  We think of churches that use modern worship songs, churches that have worship leaders and bands with guitars and drums.  We think of raised arms, or clapping hands and dancing.  We do not usually think of small chapels with maybe a couple of dozen members singing traditional hymns accompanied by an organ.

This morning I led the last service I will take on my placement Circuit.  The congregation meet in a small memorial chapel that could maybe seat fifty and there were around fifteen people present, the normal Sunday congregation.  They were middle aged and older, a mixture of men and women, white and Afro-Caribbean.  This was a very small traditional Methodist congregation; but it was also quite definitely a worshipping church.

The sincerity of these worshipping Christian people took my breath away from the opening verse of “Immortal Invisible God Only Wise”.  They sang with such enthusiasm and the volume of singing belied the number of people present; it was almost as if some extra angelic voices had come to join us, and maybe they had.  On the faces of the people before me I could see expressions of love and adoration for the one they were worshipping.  It was truly humbling to lead worship and preach to such a congregation.

By most considerations that tiny congregation would not be considered a ‘worshipping church’.  They sing very traditional Methodist hymns accompanied by an organ and do not raise their arms or dance; yet their worship was obviously genuine, sincere and heartfelt.  I felt more edified by joining them in their worship than I have in some of the bigger congregations where the worship seems designed to whip people up into an emotional frenzy rather than to lead to a loving encounter with the living God.

The worship of that small congregation this morning was, for me, deeply meaningful and transformatory and I thank the God we all worship for that faithful worshipping congregation.

Nobody Wanted The Theologians....

My daughter goes on to further education next year and so today we went to have a look around the local Sixth Form College.  I went there 26 years ago but it has changed a lot and I wanted to see what it is like now; and we both wanted to chat to course tutors about the courses she is interested in doing.

We passed different classrooms, or whatever they call them, full of potential students, parents and course tutors talking with enthusiasm about their subjects.  Both the Government & Politics and the Modern History rooms were busy and these are two subjects daughter is considering taking.  Both courses sound really interesting and challenging and daughter left the rooms full of enthusiasm.

On the way to the Music room we can across the Theology room.  They didn’t actually call it theology and I can’t remember what the exact title was, but we went past it.  The room was practically empty.  Just two tutors looking desperate for somebody to go in and see them and a rather well designed display.  Upon seeing me looking into the room one of the tutors more or less leapt into the corridor and asked “Are you interested in theology?”

“Well, I’m very interested” I replied, “I’m a Student Minister.  Unfortunately my daughter isn’t.”

Her face fell and I can understand why.  I got the feeling that we were probably the first people to show even the slightest interest in what they had to offer.  I remember being at my daughter’s school progress evening a few months ago and going to speak to her RE teacher.  Re is a compulsory subject at the school.  We had a good chat and I naturally enthused about the importance of teenagers getting a good grounding in Religious Education.  Sadly I found that my views weren’t shared by the majority of parents. Most hadn’t even bothered to make an appointment to see the RE teacher and some that had told her that it was waste of their child’s time and effort to do RE.

Few wanted the theologians at daughter’s High School then and it seemed that nobody wanted the theologians at the Sixth Form College today.  Richard Dawkins dismissed Theology as a non-subject; since theology literally means the study of God and he doesn’t believe God exists.

Naturally I think that the study of theology is very important indeed.  If God does exist, and I believe with every fibre of my being that he does; if Jesus Christ indeed died on the cross in our place and rose from the dead to give us the assurance of eternal life, and again I believe that he did: then that is the most important truth ever.  What could be more important than the study of the God in whom we live and move and have our being?

The End of The Road?

Yesterday, on my way home from placement, I came across the scene of a serious traffic accident.

I knew that something was wrong because the cars in front of me suddenly slowed down on a normally fast stretch of road.  I soon found myself driving past a scene that is still burned into my mind.  A smashed up red motorbike, several pieces of it strewn across the road; a car with a big dent in the bonnet and a motorcyclist lying in the road with several people gathered around him.  I didn’t stop to help as there seemed to be enough people helping, but I prayed for all involved as I continued on my journey.  I found out today, from the local paper, that the motorcyclist though seriously injured was airlifted to hospital and is likely to survive his horrific ordeal.

One thing I will never forget about that motorcyclist for the rest of my life is the look in his eyes as I drove past.  He was facing towards to opposite side of the road and as I drove past I saw his eyes.  They were filled with pain and fear and I knew that the man was afraid that he was going to die, truly terrified that his life was about to end on that debris covered piece of tarmac.

This lunchtime, in my capacity as a student presbyter, I assisted at the funeral service of a 94 year old lady who’d been a faithful church member all her life; a lady with a strong faith in Jesus Christ and in the promise of eternal life to all who believe in him.  She had known that her end was near and anxious that her Lord would hurry up and take her home so that she could be with him for all eternity.

What a difference, fear and terror on the one hand and calm acceptance and even impatience on the other.  I know that the circumstances are vastly, vastly different but I hope that when my time comes I too will be eager to go to be with my Lord, not filled with fear but with wonder at all that is to come.

Visiting a Mosque

I went to visit a Mosque today as part of my placement.

Upon entering the mosque we had to remove our shoes and socks.  This was because we were to stand upon what Muslims call sacred ground and the custom is based on the story of Moses and the burning bush.

We were then shown into the ablutions area where Muslims must go through a fairly complicated cycle of washing in order to purify themselves for prayer, following the belief that being clean alone gets you halfway to God.  They also believe that this washing brings about forgiveness for small sins.

Following the ablutions area we were taken through into the main prayer area.  There were no chairs but the carpet was marked out in such way that each person has their own space for prayer.  At the front was a set of three step that serves as a pulpit for the Iman; the background being that Mohammed refused to sit on a throne and so the steps were constructed for him to preach from.  There is also an alcoved area under an arch which goes back to the private prayer area Mohammed had behind his Mosque, inspired by a legend of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Prayer times were posted, as these vary depending on the position of the sun in the sky.

We were told that Muslims like to smell nice when praying and so perfumes are available.  This also means that Muslims are discouraged from smoking and eating strong foods like garlic before praying as bad odours are thought to offend the angels.

It was interesting to discover that Muslims share a number of beliefs with Christians.  We both believe in angels and we both believe in Satan.  We share a concern about sin but differ as to how we are forgiven by God for that sin.  Muslims say that we worship the same God as they do, the same God as the Jews do; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Allah means ‘the God’, as in ‘the only God’.  Muslims believe that God answers prayer and seem to be far more diligent in praying than most Christians.

On our way to refreshments we passed through what could be thought of, I suppose, as the Muslim equivalent of Sunday School.  The children, and there were many of them, were learning Arabic so that they could read the Koran and their dedicated and enthusiasm was infectious.  If only more Sunday School classes were like that.

We finished with refreshments of fresh fruit and fruit juice and left having been warmly welcomed and given new insight into what is the world’s second biggest religion.

Real Men Don't Use Satnavs!

Real men don’t use satnavs.  That’s what I always believed.  We men have a thing about doing it our way; we always think that we know best.  Real men don’t read instructions before they assemble flat pack furniture or try to operate complex electronic equipment and real men don’t need a box in the car telling us when to turn left, or right or to go straight on.  I mean, look at Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, you never see him using a satnav, though admittedly his co-presenter James May probably ought to buy one.

Real men don’t use satnavs.  I believed this for some time until I was faced with a situation where I thought that having one might actually be quite a good idea.  I had to travel from my home near Blackpool in Lancashire down to the headquarters of the Methodist Diaconal Order in Birmingham.  I had no idea how to get to Diaconal HQ!  In the past I would have used a map or maybe AA Routefinder but I discovered that Diaconal HQ is right in the middle of the city and the idea of trying to navigate through busy Birmingham traffic whilst trying to read a list of instructions did not appeal.  A satnav device seemed the only sensible solution and so I caved in and bought one.

Driving to a destination with which I was unfamiliar using the device was a revelation.  It’s just so easy.  The little box show s you a map of where you are going and gives verbal instructions as to which way to go at any given point on the journey.  I reached Diaconal HQ with no problem and was even early.

I have since used the satnav quite a lot.  It doesn’t always give perfect directions or instructions.  There was the time, for example, when I turned onto the wrong side of a motorway and was ordered, by my satnav, to ‘make an immediate U-turn’.  On a motorway!?!  Another time it tried to take me down a road marked ‘Unsuitable for Vehicular Access’.  Being me I drove down it anyway and just about made it to the other end.  On the whole though buying the satnav has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as it has made car journey a lot easier and a lot more straightforward.

I’m not going to make a direct parallel between Jesus and a satnav because that would be silly.  Jesus is no more the satnav of our lives that he is a squirrel!  But we do need guidance as we live our lives and who better to give us that guidance than the God who created us?  If we try to go our own way in life we will eventually get lost, but if we follow Jesus we will stay on the road that leads to eternal life.

Real men may or may not use satnavs, but real men and women follow Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life!

Does Faith Matter Today?

My placement continues and yesterday I was once again in the Multi-Faith Chaplaincy at the local university helping them publicise the work of the chaplaincy to new and returning students.

As well as the chaplaincy centre the chaplains also have a permanent table in one of the main university buildings, partly to promote the work of the chaplaincy and partly to allow the different faith groups at the university to promote their own services and events.  Yesterday we discovered that all the faith materials has been removed from the table and replaced with a couple of plain pieces of A4 paper that said ‘Student Finance.’  We were assured that this was only temporary and that the faith materials would be replaced.

This take-over of the Multi-Faith table, temporary though it was, seemed to me to be a sad reflection of the attitude of society as a whole towards faith, spirituality and religious experience.  There were any other tables that could have been temporarily taken over, but it was the faith table that was chosen.  Why?  Is it because people of faith are seen as a soft target?  Is it because religion is now seen by most people as a bit of an anachronism, as something that should be tolerated because it gives comfort to an eccentric few but that is ultimately not really important?

If it is the former then whoever moved the faith materials is going to shortly discover than people of faith are not a soft target, but are willing to fight their corner and stand up for the importance of their faith.

If it is the latter then that is a sad reflection on our Western Society, a society where the material is seen as real and important and the spiritual is seen as unreal and less important, if not unimportant.

As people of faith, whatever faith, we need to actively try to reverse this trend.  We need to be visible as people of faith at all levels of society making a real contribution to the decision making processes, showing to the rest of our society that faith can and does make a real difference not only in individual lives but in society as a whole.

As a Christian I want to see Christian politicians whose political actions and decisions are guided not by loyalty to a political party but out of loyalty to the God who created and redeemed them; the God to whom they owe literally everything.  I want to see Christians involved in voluntary organisations like charities, pressure groups and community groups.  I want to see Christian scientists demonstrating that faith and science are not enemies but are complimentary.  I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

I pray for a time when people of faith are not marginalised because having faith will be seen by all as an integral part of what it means to be human.

A Multi-Faith Day

I’m on placement at the moment and one of the duties of the Methodist Minister I’m with is to be part time Chaplain at the local university in a multi-faith chaplaincy.

As its Fresher’s Week at the University we have spent the day trying to promote the Chaplaincy Centre to new students as well as to remind existing students that the Chaplains are there to serve people with faith and people with no faith.  The means of promotion is very simple, free cakes and drinks are on offer; all students have to do is visit the Chaplaincy Centre and they can eat and drink their fill.

We have seen a steady stream of students throughout the day.  The vast majority have been Muslims coming in at lunchtime to pray in the special Muslim Prayer Rooms (one for each sex).  They were all very amiable and some stopped and chatted for a while, putting to shame the view of radical fanatics that many seem to hold.  Their dedication to prayer is commendable and puts many Christians to shame.

We saw some Christian students as well and met somebody looking for a Jewish Chaplain, which unfortunately the university doesn’t have as there is no Jewish community in this particular city.  I was able to point her towards a synagogue in a nearby town.

I have to admit that I have very little experience of the multi-faith environment, though I am taking a course in College next year on multi-faith.  My background is that I have always believed that Christianity is the only path to God, based on Jesus’ words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16) and “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  My gut reaction is that Jesus is indeed the only way to God and that all other faiths are at best misleading and at worst of the Devil.

And yet today I have met and talked with people whose faith is as deep as my own…..

It is argued that where different faiths agree they can and should work together ; but if Christianity is the only true way are we misleading people by working with those of other faiths?  Can we as Christians work with other faith groups if we think that they are leading people away from God or even towards the Evil One?

There are no easy answers to the question of multi-faith and I won’t attempt to give any here.  Meeting people of other faiths has opened my mind to some of the difficult questions and I’m sure there are others.  Hopefully over the next year I can work out my personal response to some of these questions and thereby follow a path that, first and foremost, honours God through the Lord Jesus Christ, a path that is true to the words of the Scripture I hold so dear, but that at the same time honours the right of every human being to choose who to worship (or indeed whether to recognise deity at all) and what form that worship will take, if any.

Nostalgia – A Christian Perspective?

I was reflecting yesterday about what seems to be a growing attachment to the past, particularly with regard to what I watch on television.

My favourite TV programme is Doctor Who and I really look forward to watching it each Saturday.  The modern Doctor Who has become one of the BBCs great success stories, popular with the general family TV audience but critically acclaimed as well for the quality of scripts, acting, special effects etc.  I enjoy the modern Doctor Who, but if I’m honest I prefer the older stories and the Tom Baker episodes in particular, which I watch regularly on DVD.  I can overlook the dated special effects and occasional bad script because Doctor Who had a magic then that it doesn’t quite seem to have today, as something indefinable that’s missing from 2011 Doctor Who.

It’s not only Doctor Who though.  I find myself increasingly watching programmes from my past, programmes I enjoyed in my youth and still enjoy now.

I don’t think there is anything intrinsically wrong with enjoying TV from decades past, but nostalgia isn’t a healthy thing when it comes to the church!

As a Student Minister I have visited a lot of different churches in the past year or so and they all have one thing in common; they invariably look to the past.  They talk about the time of the great Methodist preachers like Sangster and Soper, to the times when chapels and churches were full to bursting and every church had a thriving Sunday school.  Their measure of the success of a Minister is how far he or she can lead the church towards recapturing those glory days.  A good preacher is one who chooses the old familiar hymns, which they see as so much better than “these modern worship songs”.

I think, at least I hope, that all Christians would share my own desire to see our churches full again; but we cannot see this come about by hanging on to the past, by wallowing in nostalgia.

Instead we must look to the future, with faith that the God who has revived our churches before will do so again.  There have been times in the past when it has seemed that the church is dying, but then it has been resurrected by the one who himself rose from the dead.  Revival has come through persistent prayer, through the faithful preaching of the word of God, through Christians who are open to the movement of the unpredictable Holy Spirit who, like the wind, blows where He will.  With revival can come new songs and hymns, new styles of music and new ways of worshipping.  We can either hold onto the past or we can look to the future, and exciting future of revival and restoration.

As Christian people we should be trying together to discern what God is doing right now, what God is going to be doing and then working with him as the united Body of Christ.  The past was good but it is just that, the past; we need to be working with God and looking towards an exciting future.

Is Forgiveness Possible? - A Reflection on 9/11

Ten years on and it still seems almost impossible that the events of 9/11 happened as they did.  The idea that terrorists would hijack planes and deliberately crash them into buildings sounds more like the plot of a far-fetched Hollywood film than something that would happen in real life; and yet it did.  As I write this I’m watching a replay of the 9/11 events on the History Channel and time has not diminished the way I respond to those dreadful images.

Like most people I can clearly remember when I was on 11^th September 2001.  I was art work in a single occupancy office and somebody from another office rushed in and told me that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York.  I immediately logged onto the internet and watched the unfolding events with a mixture of incredulity and horror.  My mouth just dropped as the second plane hit and it became clear this was no accident, but something much worse.  This was deliberate; human beings had deliberately done this!  I think though, for me, the worst moment was when people started jumping from the buildings and you could clearly see falling bodies.  Then the buildings just crumpled shedding dust and debris all over Manhattan.  I’m watching it again now and the horror is just as raw.

The lectionary readings for this Sunday (Genesis 50:15-21 and Matthew 18:21-35) are concerned with forgiveness and in his parable Jesus makes it clear that we are to forgive others for the wrongs they do to us.  In the parable a servant is forgiven a huge debt by his master.  The servant then goes to another servant who owes him money and demands payment.  The second servant cannot pay and so the first servant has him thrown into jail.  When the master hears about this he is angry and turns the unforgiving servant over to the jailers to be tortured until he repays the money.  Jesus goes on to say “This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother (or sister) from your heart.” (Matt 18:35, NIV)

Sometimes we want to cry out to God, “Why should we forgive?  Why should the families of the victims of 9/11 forgive?  Why should people be forgiven when they do very evil things?”

One answer would be that Jesus told us to forgive so therefore we should, but I think we need to go a bit further than that.  We should forgive others because God has forgiven us!  That is what Jesus’ parable is all about.

Yet sometimes we want to shout out to God that in asking us to forgive he is asking too much of us; that it would simply cost us too much to forgive a person or people for the wrong they have done to us.  I can imagine the relatives of many of those who died in the World Trade Centre and The Pentagon thinking exactly that.

“Don’t you understand what forgiveness would cost us?  We want to shout, “Don’t you understand!”

God understands the real cost of forgiveness, he knows how hard it truly is to forgive.  God knows the agony we must go through to forgive somebody because he has experienced it for himself.

Jesus died on the cross so that we might be forgiven.  The Son of God suffered one of the most painful deaths ever devised by human beings so that we can be forgiven for all the selfish, unloving and God denying things we have done.  God the Son suffered the physical pain of the cross and the spiritual pain of separation from God the Father.  God the Father knew the pain of separation from the Son.  God truly knows the cost of forgiveness, which is why he can tell us to forgive others.

Can we really forgive others for the wrong they have done us?  Can 9/11 be forgiven?

Cheryl McGuinness lost her husband in the 9/11 attack.  He was the co-pilot in one of the planes that struck the Twin Towers.  Cheryl visited Ground Zero, where the twin towers had stood.  As she stood amongst the rubble and twisted steel she saw a steel structure in the shape of a cross.  She focussed on it and said, “Lord, they killed my husband.”  She felt God telling her to forgive and when she asked why she felt God saying, “Because I forgave you.”  Cheryl chose to forgive and it was God’s love for her that helped her to do it.

It was because of God’s love for her that Cheryl was able to forgive the terrorists.  There are numerous examples of people who have forgiven terrible wrongs done to them and to those they love.  God’s love can help us to forgive others too.  God forgave us and he wants us to forgive others, no matter what they have done to us; and I pray that he will help us all to offers forgiveness to those who we feel have wronged us.

Wonderful Methodist People! – Proud To Be A Methodist 3

As you know from the title of my blog I am a Student Presbyter in the Methodist Church, which means that I’m currently undergoing training to become a Methodist Presbyter (or Minister as they used to be called).  Some of that training is, of course, academic.  The church likes us to know something about Scripture and Theology before they let us loose on a congregation. Some of the training is practical and we spend time on placement gaining experience of various different Circuits, churches and types of ministry. I spent six months (six-ish hours a week) on placement in a very rural Methodist Circuit.  In July I did two weeks looking at a fascinating Fresh Expression of Church.  From October to March I will be undertaking a Chaplaincy placement at a local hospital which I am expecting to be very interesting and very challenging.  For the month of September I am on placement in the inner city part of a Methodist Circuit in North West England.

There are obviously huge differences between the different types of placement I’ve experienced, but one thing that has been completely consistent where ever I’ve been has been the warmth, hospitality and graciousness of Methodist people.  Cups or mugs of tea or coffee have been plentiful (almost too plentiful) and there have been biscuits, cakes and lovely home cooked meals.  I have had the immense privilege of  being involved with the leading of two funeral services and was humbled that people would trust a trainee with such an important service and occasion in their lives.  The churches I’ve preached in or led Bible studies for have been very welcoming and supportive and made me feel really part of their fellowship.  Its been hard leaving placements because of some of the wonderful people I’ve met and begun to get to know.

I am especially grateful to those Presbyters who have taken time out of their busy ministries to allow a student to accompany them and learn from them.  I hope I didn’t get in the way too much!

If it isn’t sinful I am proud to be part of the gracious, loving and supportive Methodist Community in this country and I look forward to the day when, by the grace of God, I can give back to that community by serving as a Methodist Presbyter.