Dear friends,
As we approach the end of this Connexional Year we will be saying our farewells to Rev Steve who, although remaining in the Circuit, transitions from part-time Circuit working and part-time Chaplaincy, to full time Hospital Chaplaincy. We are deeply grateful for Rev Steve’s ministry within the Circuit over the last ten years, and for our continuing relationship with him as he serves the SDH community. There is an opportunity to express our gratitude to Steve at the Circuit Farewell Service at 16:00 on Sunday 27th July at Bourne Valley Methodist Church, so please do join us if you can.
The month of June is Bible Month and this year explores the Gospel of John. There is plenty of material relating to Bible Month on the Methodist Church website and our preachers & worship leaders are encouraged to include the Bible month focus on John as they lead worship. The idea is not to leave the work of engaging with Bible month to the context of worship but to use the resources as a gateway to training and learning opportunities. We are invited to taste and see the goodness of an individual text; enjoying some of its unique flavours, considering its origins, appreciating its place alongside the rest of Scripture, and savouring the unique contribution it might make to our faithful living and learning.
We are also hopeful that a planned visit by a small number of the Zambian Girls Brigade will take place over a few days in the Circuit early in August. Following Rev Rosemary’s trip to Zambia in January our link with Zambia feels as close to our hearts as ever. As we continue to reflect on and build a shared life as siblings in God’s Kingdom I am struck by shared marks of God’s grace and how we listen and practise of Christian discipleship and life together.
These marks of grace can be named as ‘persistent and faithful prayer’, as noted in Rev Rosemary’s evening of sharing her experience in January I was struck by ‘an unambiguous evidence of a joyful confidence in the Gospel, even amid real and obvious challenges, hardship, and adversity’ and ‘hospitality’.
Every blessing,
Rev Mark.