News from The Methodist Church February 2025
Services from The Methodist Worship Book—have all now been published on the Methodist Resource Hub.
The World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian initiative celebrated annually on the first Friday in March in over 170 countries. It dates back to the 19th century and has been known to many as the Women’s World Day of Prayer.
Each year, worship is prepared by women from a single region of the world. This year, it comes from the Cook Islands in the Pacific, and takes the theme “Wonderfully Made!” and has been inspired by words from Psalm 139:14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
More information can be found on the Methodist Church Resource Hub (methodist.org.uk)
New name, new hymn
Jaroslav Vajda (1919-2008) is not a well-known name in British Methodist circles, but he has been described as one of the leading hymn writers of the twentieth century, sometimes as “the dean of hymn writers in North America”. Of Slovak descent, he was both prolific and innovative as well as deeply reflective. His hymn ‘O dearest Friend’ begins verse 2:
Create in me a heart as clean as newest born,
A heart, my God, that beats for you alone;
Make it a temple your free Spirit would adorn,
With living flesh replace my heart of stone.
And is featured in Week 4 in the Soul Food worship resources for Lent.
The two-verse text is set to the familiar tune “Londonderry air”.