Dear One and All,
I don’t know which is worse, packing the boxes for the removal folk or unpacking boxes upon arrival? Finding boxes clearly marked ‘garage’ in the study and kitchenware in the bathroom has added complexity and for me, has developed a more florid use of the English language. ‘Moving-on’ however, is part of the life of a Methodist minister and has been since the time of Wesley and his Assistants. Acquaintances made, friendships formed, schemes and projects started not necessarily completed, but left for others to pursue. It’s then on to the next chapter. All this, one hopes, in answer to the call of God upon a life and in response to the discipline of the Church.
Ruth is an impressive Biblical character: ‘Where you go I will go; where you lodge I will lodge; your people will be my people and your God my God’. (Ruth 1:15-16) The people of God are constantly on the move, just as Abraham, Moses and Jesus’ disciples all discovered. In a physical, spiritual and missional sense the church, at its best, is prayerfully forward thinking, disciplined to the calling of the Spirit and exhibiting the marks of Christ in its engagement with its community and beyond. Always moving-on.
The Methodist people in common with all Christians know the place of disciplined devotion in their lives. A Methodist Way of Life (Revd Dr Roger Walton) taps into a rich vein of Christian tradition where worship, service, care and telling the good news of Christ in word and action are common characteristics of the Methodists. The Revd John Wesley would find much to applaud in this contemporary understanding of Methodist identity and encourage us to portray it in our daily lives.
Identity is important. I have come to realise over the last thirty years of ministry that Methodists are not all the same; there are Methodist identities. Evangelicals, progressives, theological conservatives and liberals; charismatics, sacramentalists and even quasi-puritans. So many identities or labels, but One Christ within the diversity of the Trinity. God knows difference, rejoices in diversity but exists in unity. This is a challenge to us at The Mint, in the Circuit and to the wider Church, to open our eyes and minds to the possibilities of God’s gracious calling to us all.
As I write this letter the evil of division and hate is being seen on our streets. Hatred of those considered ‘other’ is given vent by ‘the mob’ and those sinister forces who promote xenophobia, islamophobia and intolerance, while wrapping themselves in the Union Jack. The irony is not lost that the Union flag marks the unity of various British identities and the flag of St George originates in the middle east. Part of our calling is to show a better way; the Christian way, a Methodist way.
People often ask me at the beginning of a ministry in a new place, ‘what’s your plan?’ I have no plan. What I do know is that together we shall share a journey, a pilgrimage. We will come to a common mind and understanding which knows the truth of ‘without a vision the people will perish’(Prov.29) and that that vision will be through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and our response will conform to the Christ who is at the heart of all we do and who we are. And so we take the first steps together.
Every blessing,
Simon.
Revd Dr. Simon H Leigh.