Wesley News
Minister’s Musings
Dear Friends,
It is appropriate that the Church’s year should reflect the life of its people and have, together with its high, exciting and uplifting times, periods of calmer reflection. We have just enjoyed the excitement of Christmas, with its “good tidings of great joy” and its message of “peace and goodwill to all people”. In a few weeks we will be celebrating Easter, the high point of the Christian year. In between there is the season of Lent - a period of self-denial, penitence and quiet reflection. The word Lent comes from the same root as our word ‘length’ and the season takes its name from the fact that it is a period when the days are lengthening, and the rigours of winter weather are beginning to give way to the greater warmth and light of Spring time.
Lent is 40 days long, echoing the period in which Jesus was in the wilderness preparing himself for his ministry. It was while he was in the wilderness that Jesus was tempted - tempted to take a short cut to achieve the people’s support, tempted to put his faith to the test, tempted to test God - and, through self-discipline, prayer and reflection on Scripture, Jesus triumphed over temptation. Christians have traditionally used the period of Lent for the same three spiritual activities.
What will this mean for you this year? Traditionally Lent has been seen as a time of self-denial and some of us will be making a decision to give up something we enjoy for Lent as a self-discipline and to help us focus on other things that are more important. But an even more important way to use Lent is to make it a time when we positively commit ourselves to do something new or to take on some new responsibility - if not permanently, at least for the Lent season.
We recently observed Vocation Sunday, a Sunday which the Circuit had designated as an opportunity to think about what new things we might be called to undertake in the church or in the community as part of our Christian discipleship. I do hope we have all taken that seriously and that as a consequence we will be able to develop and improve what we do to fulfil our mission as a church.
But let me mention one or two specific things you might wish to do in Lent.
Try to make time for prayers. Are you aware of the Wesley monthly prayer cycle, giving topics for our prayers for each day of the month? I commend it to you for your use.
On Sunday mornings in Lent we will be thinking about Jesus’ “Words from the Cross’. Please make an effort to join us in church each week to share in this reflection. The series is advertised elsewhere in this News.
We shall conclude the series on Maundy Thursday evening as part of our usual Holy Communion service for that day, in which we strip the communion table, lectern and pulpit in anticipation of Good Friday.
On Thursdays, each week, there will be a Lenten house group at Millington Road to follow up on the previous Sunday’s sermon. Why not come and join us, if you are free? If you cannot, why not join one of the regular House Groups or come to the Wednesday Evening Bible Study, when, over the Lent period, we will be thinking about what constitutes worship and about different approaches to it.
On Palm Sunday evening we will be presenting ‘The King of Sorrows’, a dramatisation of the Dorothy Sayers play in the series: The Man Born to be King. Please put this in your diaries and bring your friends.
May this Lent be a time of refreshment and renewal for us all.
John Barrett
A Lenten prayer:
As buds uncurl and flowers open their faces to the sun,
turn us to the light and warmth of your presence,
that in confidence we may confess our sin.
God of righteousness, justice, peace and love,
we knock at your gate with our prayers:
we confess that our lives and the life of the world
are broken apart by our selfishness,
thoughtlessness, jealousy and lust,
by impatience, anger, pride and greed,
by all that we have done that is unworthy
and by all we have failed to do.
We ask to be forgiven; we ask to be strengthened;
we ask to be made whole.
As we follow Jesus through the desert places, we pray that we may, like him, commit ourselves to do your will and, through your Spirit, may have your gifts of love, joy and peace. Amen.
Family News
We give thanks for the life of Betty Blake who passed away at the end of November 2011. We remember Betty’s family in our prayers.
We offer congratulations to Frances Burghall who has received a Certificate in Christian Studies from Oxford Brookes University.
Property Update
You cannot fail to notice that there is scaffolding along the Short Street side of the church. We are having the outside stonework cleaned and whilst the scaffolding is in position we are taking the opportunity to clean out the gutters and gulleys and have them repainted. We are also undertaking the repair of any brickwork and roofing tiles. This work will continue all round the building.
The Phase 1 work (Refectory, Little Chapel, Upper Room and Nave) is now complete and work is starting on Phase 2. This will include having the rear stairway and landing redecorated and a new carpet fitted. The existing sink unit outside the Upper Room will be replaced with a new unit.
To make the reception area more welcoming, the hatch to the front office is to be enlarged and the office will be having a makeover.
Plans are being drawn up for our main kitchen to be refurbished and it is hoped that this work will be done around Easter. At the moment we have not had an estimate of the cost.
As it is now surplus to our needs we would like to re-house the large stone pulpit from the Small Chapel. Once this has gone it will be necessary to have the Chapel re-carpeted. There are already two areas where the once door frame was fixed and need to be covered over. (Editor: The larger congregation on Sunday evenings are now comfortably accommodated in the more flexible space)
It is a long haul getting this work done whilst we continue with our day to day operations but we are already seeing the benefits of Phase 1 and look forward to the completion of the next phase. My thanks go to you all for your co-operation and especially to Rachel and Phil for carrying a lot of the burden quietly and efficiently.
The plans for the Centenary Garden are now well under way. A landscape architect has been chosen and detailed designs are now being considered. This work will be carried out in good time to receive the Centenary Stone which will mark the beginning of our Centenary celebrations in October.
Guidance and approval is being sought from Manchester concerning the engraving on the side wall.
Peter Ashman
Exploring Celtic Saints and Spirituality
Continuing our exploration of aspects of Celtic Spirituality through the lives of the Celtic Saints, having covered so far Saints Patrick (Ireland), Columba (Iona), Aidan (Lindisfarne), Fursey and Cedd (East Anglia), we shall conclude our series with the following:
6.30 5 February Saints Brigid (of Kildare) and Hilda (of Whitby)
6.30 4 March Saint David and Celtic Christianity in Wales
6.30 6 May Saint Brendan and Celtic pilgrims
Times are hard..........!
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who has supported the Traidcraft stalls throughout the past year, not least by ordering cards and gifts at Christmas as well as buying seasonal fare. Our monthly takings have increased over the year, as has the range of foods available.
However, Traidcraft plc is facing a difficult trading situation in the present financial year. In a recent letter the Chief Executive, Paul Chandler, states that overall turnover is well down on levels achieved in 2010. It seems likely that in 2011/12 it will make a loss which will have a big impact on the volume of purchases it can place with producers around the world.
Many of us buy supermarkets’ own label Fairtrade products, admittedly cheaper than Traidcraft’s, but this doesn’t benefit the producers to the same extent. Paul says it is vital that we continue supporting those worse off than ourselves – and the support Traidcraft provides through trading is ‘a vital lifeline and message of hope to many communities around the world.’
So please continue to buy from Traidcraft in these hard times. The Spring catalogue will soon be on its way or you can browse on line at www.traidcraft.co.uk to see the full range of high quality products available. In between monthly stalls Rachel will be happy to supply stock during office hours or please ask me for whatever you need.
Angela Macquiban
Haiti Earthquake Appeal Update
2 years ago members of Wesley generously donated ove £1,000 to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal organised by the World Church Relationships. I have just received an update from that department on what has been achieved in the past 2 years and their hopes for the future. Revd Joaquin Thomas Quenet (Partnership Coordinator) writes:
"While a lot has been achieved, much still remains to be accomplished. It is with confidence and with a degree of pride in the people of Haiti that I affirm that the recovery and reconstruction that has taken place, though extremely slow, has not quenched the unconquerable good spirit of the people. Even though many are still living in tents, temporary shelters and semi destroyed buildings, many Haitians have demonstrated tremendous faith and working with their brothers and sisters in Haiti and international partners in Europe, Canada, the United States and the Caribbean to improve their circumstances.
Your giving to the World Mission Fund (Haiti Appeal) has been used to provide shelter and support for children left without parents and the aged left without family. It has been used to train 33 young men and women whose tertiary education would have been tremendously hampered by the earthquake. It has been used to secure the education of over 20,000 children and the pastoral care of 14,000 members. It has helped in the rebuilding of schools and clinics and provided emergency shelters and safe lighting equipment for people living in tents. It has helped to protect vulnerable women and girls from being abused. It has rebuilt sanitary facilities in schools and helped the Methodist Church in Haiti to generate income from which it will continue its ongoing mission of human development and gospel ministry.
As Haiti enters into the third year after the earthquake the World Mission Fund, but not from the Haiti Appeal, will pay and support a doctor to specialise in the development of Community Health Care and for a Christian Education specialist teacher to work with the Methodist Church in Haiti for 3 years from April 2012".
I have a DVD that gives examples of some of the ongoing work that the World Mission Fund supports through its programmes and if anyone would like to borrow it please let me know.
David Taylor
The latest news from Fiji
In 2006, in the latest in a succession of coups in Fiji, the military seized power and the Fiji Military Council appointed an interim Prime Minister. The leaders of the Methodist Church, the largest Christian Church in the Fijian islands, expressed their concern about the coup and called for the return to democratic government. In January, 2007, Commodore Bainimarama took over as Prime Minister. In 2009 Bainimarama introduced Public Emergency Regulations(PERs) banning any form of political discussion or protest. The leaders of the Methodist Church were placed under house arrest, threatened with criminal charges and possible imprisonment and a ban was placed upon all Church meetings of any kind, including meetings of the Methodist Conference.
Last September, the East Anglian Synod passed a resolution expressing its deep concern at the banning orders, expressing solidarity with the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma and urging all Methodist congregations to pray for the restoration of Church members’ freedom to meet and practise the faith.
At the start of January, we heard promising news from Fiji that the Government were planning to lift the PERs that have been so seriously restricting Church activities. The interim attorney-general was adamant that churches could again meet on their premises without needing authorisation any longer.
In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, welcomed the lifting of the Emergency Regulations as a step in the right direction towards the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights in the country. She says the emergency law seriously restricted the right to public assembly and freedom of expression, and gave the authorities broad powers of arrest and detention. The High Commissioner has also noted the announcement that amendments have been made to the Public Order Act and says she hopes these amendments will be in line with international human rights norms and not in any way replicate the restrictions in the Public Emergency Regulations. She expressed concern at recent developments in which critics of the Government have faced criminal charges, arbitrary detention or other forms of intimidation. She says silencing criticism with such heavy-handed measures is in breach of international human rights standards.
The PERs were formally lifted on Saturday, 7 January, but were immediately replaced by a revised Public Order Act, which, according to the deputy general secretary of Fiji’s Methodist Church, will add enormously to the Church’s workload and make it very difficult for most congregations to meet at all. Reverend Tevita Nawadra Banivanua says that he has learned from a meeting with police that permits are still necessary. He says many of the smaller of the church’s 2,000 congregations wanting to hold their monthly meeting will struggle to comply “Because they are required to complete a number of forms in triplicate and to give copies of their full agendas with details of all items to be discussed, and in the villages, they don’t have the necessary secretarial resources or things like photocopiers.” Reverend Tevita Nawadra Banivanua says he understands non-compliance will result in a fine.
John Barrett
Hope Cambridge – Safe Refuge in 2012
In 2011 Hope Cambridge, working with Cambridge Street Pastors and St John Ambulance, piloted an overnight Safe Refuge – a pastoral cafe with first aid open from 10pm to 4am using the side chapel of St Columba’s URC on Downing Street. Nearly 200 clubbers and others visited the facility during the 8 nights it was in operation, whether for a safe place to chill out with a soft drink, to find practical or pastoral help, or to receive medical attention. Funding was provided by Cambridge City Council. The objective was to demonstrate God’s love and contribute towards safety and security, on the same basis as Street Pastors. The work attracted a good deal of positive attention from local TV, radio and press, and was warmly welcomed by all concerned.
We would now like to carry out a 3 month trial of the facility this summer, opening Saturday night every week from 10pm to 4am, and for this we need two things:
- volunteers to join a Working Group to make it happen
- volunteers to make up the overnight Pastoral Teams.
Depending on the outcome of the trial, we would then look towards setting up a permanent facility using premises shared with other prayer, outreach and compassion ministries in Cambridge City Centre.
For more information please email Chris Jenkin on chris@hopecambridge.com
Stop Press: Dr Who comes to Wesley! A holiday club for young people will be held here at Wesley 2 – 6 April (Wednesday 4 at the Grafton Centre). Any volunteers to help Jason would be very welcome.
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