Minister’s letter – May 2018
Dear friends,
It’s hard to imagine that only a month ago events were being cancelled or postponed because of the unseasonal snow and now we’re basking in midsummer temperatures. I guess it proves that British weather is still as changeable as it ever was! Personally, I’m hoping to see a little more of spring before we get the paddling pools and suntan lotion out and declare a heat wave and a hosepipe ban. In any event we shouldn’t get carried away with thoughts of an early summer just yet. As the old adage goes, ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be out.’
Change is the defining characteristic of this time of year, both in nature and in the church calendar. Our festivals and special dates echo what was happening in the disciples’ lives in that first post-Easter period. Though the joy of resurrection was still with them, they were coming to terms with what that actually meant. Jesus appeared to them on a number of occasions but he was no longer present on a daily basis and soon he would leave them and return to his Father, an event we recall as Ascension Day, this year falling on 10th May. They were told to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Wait they did, but hardly in eager anticipation, more in fear and trembling. Yet, despite the locked doors, the Holy Spirit came and nothing, nothing, was ever the same again.
On that feast of Pentecost, the apostles were empowered to preach, teach and even perform miracles. The Christian Church was born (although it would be a while before it was called that) and it grew exponentially. It was a time of excitement and wonder – and danger and challenge – a time when the gifts of the Spirit were poured out on all believers.
It’s a festival we will celebrate on 20th May with talk of tongues of fire and no doubt some rousing hymns……but beyond that….? I think sometimes we’re guilty of putting the events of Pentecost into an historical context and thinking that those gifts and that empowering were only for that time and the purpose of establishing the early church and bear no relevance for our church today.
Yet never has the established church in Britain been more in need of the power of the Holy Spirit to re-ignite the flame. We live in a society for whom the church is largely irrelevant. (That’s not true for all, of course, but it is for many.) It’s painful for us to acknowledge that, but we need to if we are to change things and reach the community we serve with the gospel message – which will always be relevant but may not be heard unless we get it out there.
How do we do that? Well, it starts with prayer and on the next page there is information about ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’ a joint Anglican-Methodist prayer initiative. It encompasses the time between Ascension and Pentecost and it asks of us just this: to pray for five people to come to know the love of Jesus Christ: to pray for them daily, faithfully and with the expectancy that God will answer and act. That’s it. As simple as that – and as powerful as that.
So let’s start changing things, one prayer and one person at a time, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Are you up for it?!
Yours in anticipation,
Sharon