Sometimes sermons go right over
our heads or just don't seem relevant - so we switch off and just hope no one
asks us what we thought. Just recently, I was listening to the preacher at the
licensing of readers at Chester Cathedral and was more than impressed by some
of the things he said. Although he was speaking about reader ministry, what he
said could be applied equally to all of us.
The preacher spoke of ministry
being worked out on the interface between church and community. It set me
thinking again about our perception of what church growth is all about. We
constantly worry when numbers are low at our services and when so much effort
is being put in by our faithful band of workers.
Perhaps we are looking at it the
wrong way. It seems to me that in the last few years, with the support of our
church’s Parochial Church Council, we have begun many initiatives. These take
place in our church school of Holy Trinity, in the community and that are designed
for the benefit of the community - such as our soup and sandwich lunch for
local care home residents and our ‘bacon butty’ mornings which both attract
non-church going locals.
There are many opportunities for
sharing the Gospel and truly living out the faith of Jesus Christ.
Let us be encouraged by
the words from Galatians 6:9: ‘And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap,
if we do not give up.’ What we need is patience and letting things happen in God’s time. However,
that doesn't mean that we can sit back and leave it all to Him - our job is to
join in with God. Together with patience, I would like to add persistence - and
by that I mean never forgetting the work we do as disciples of Christ.
Those of us who work outside the
Church, need to be able to come back to our Father’s house: To be resourced by
God’s word, prayer and encouragement. I am reminded of the words from the book of Hebrews
10:24-25: ‘Let us think of ways to
motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our
meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now
that the day of his return is drawing near’.
For those who perhaps are not
physically able to do some of the things in our church family that they once
did, there is still much to do, both in fervent prayer and encouragement -
especially in noticing when people are missing from church and keeping in touch
with them.
I suppose that what I am saying
is that when we go out and work at the interface of church and community it's
hard going - we really need the church faithful both to pray for us and to
support each other in sustaining participation in the worshiping life of our
church.
It’s amazing what can be achieved
by just a phone call saying “We missed you today” or by dropping a note to keep
in touch. It's a huge responsibility that we share as we build up the body of
Christ - we must never forget our partnership in the Gospel: We are all in this
together.
Over the last few years, it has
been a privilege to work with you and see our fellowship increase in so many
ways. We have had fun together and we have lived through some sad times. We
have developed our welcome and our worship - bringing a more modern feel. It
has also been a real blessing to see the development of a new ministry team in
Jill, Ruth, Nigel and Peter - each bringing very distinct and unique gifts. We
look forward to all that God has in store for us.
Your
friend Rev Paul
