On Wednesday I went into Methodist Church House and was joined by Roberta Rominger from the URC and Jonathan Edwards from the Baptist Union, as together we signed a Christmas Card for Phil Woolas MP, the Immigration Minister. We're encouraging people to send him a Christmas card inviting him to do what he can to end the UK's detention of children seeking sanctuary.
Thursday, 26 November 2009
London Days
On Wednesday I went into Methodist Church House and was joined by Roberta Rominger from the URC and Jonathan Edwards from the Baptist Union, as together we signed a Christmas Card for Phil Woolas MP, the Immigration Minister. We're encouraging people to send him a Christmas card inviting him to do what he can to end the UK's detention of children seeking sanctuary.
Monday, 23 November 2009
A Yorkshire weekend - November 21-22
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Hinde Street Methodist Church
Today I spent the day at
The Church has a tradition of using a 1936 order of Holy Communion every Sunday morning and I joined the congregation to share in this. The main morning worship follows an hour later and today was led by the Superintendent minister Revd Sue Keegan von Allmen. I had been invited to preach.
Once a month different class groups volunteer to prepare lunch after the morning service and today Revd Leao Neto’s group were in charge in the kitchen.
It gave a good opportunity to meet with members of the congregation in an informal setting.
Following lunch a group of us met to discuss the questions that arise from the recent debate about assisted suicide and advance directives. The group included health care professionals who reflected on how difficult some decisions could be as well as others who shared their thoughts when they had considered writing an advance directive for themselves. We reflected that the law can leave us in a messy place, but to try and clarify or change the law may makes matters worse rather than better.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
MHA Multi-Faith Housing with Care Project – The South Leeds Appeal
This evening I was invited to attend a presentation given by MHA to describe their plans for Hemmingway House, a multi-faith housing with care project in
MHA is proposing to build a facility that will provide support for up to 90 residents in 45 apartments which will offer independence with the security of 24 hour staffing. The unique element of the scheme is to use the project to encourage the coming together of local faith groups in
MHA now provides care and support to over 13,000 older people through 75 care homes, 50 retirement schemes and 49 community based projects, and they are applauded for their work to support people with dementia as well as their emphasis on nurturing a persons spirituality and by doing so helping to improve physical wellbeing. However they have never done anything quite like this.
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Youth Assembly
David and I spent this weekend at the Methodist Youth Assembly which was held at
The Youth Assembly has also succeeded in reflecting the ethnic diversity of the
I was impressed by the large number of young people that had been involved organising the Assembly and who continued to act as stewards on the day. All the sessions (or Logins) were facilitated by young people trained for the task.
The many senior members of the Connexional Team who came to support the event sat on beanbags in a corridor and acted as advisors only when called on to do so. This was very much an event that empowered young people to speak and be heard.
Login sessions covered a range of subjects including youth violence, sexuality, God and me, self esteem, equality and diversity, you and your rights and vocation. There can have been few Presidents of the Conference who were invited to attend a discussion group led by young people because he was “the expert on sex”.
Later in the day login extra sessions were added to discuss topics requested by those attending, including exploring Christianity in a multi-faith world, and considering the challenges that being in a relationship with someone who is not a Christian brings. All the sessions were well attended and by all accounts lively and thoughtful.
Throughout the weekend the process of selecting the next Youth President took place. Youth Assembly members were introduced to 5 possible candidates for the role and after a series of interviews and an initial election they were left to make a choice between 2. This morning Pete Brady, from
Pete was inducted during the morning worship that took place in the splendidly ornate chapel in the College. I can’t imagine that the ancient catholic saints that look down from the stained glass windows could have witnessed worship quite like this very often. The chapel was packed with young people as well as members of all ages from nearby Methodist circuits.
The powerful and dynamic service followed the theme for the weekend, “be something beautiful...for you, for the world, with God”. We were reminded that God saw the worth in all people, whatever they looked like, and picking up a theme I articulated at Conference, God calls us all to work and witness wherever we find ourselves.
Contemporary songs were well led by the band Life Colour, with words and video clips on a series of screens distributed around the chapel.
It concluded a very successful weekend and I’m sure that even those that had long journeys back home left uplifted and inspired.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Meeting with Chris Bryant MP about Fiji
Yesterday evening I went with David and David Bradwell from the Connexional Team to meet Chris Bryant MP, a minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to talk about the situation in 
The
In August the President of the Methodist Church of Fiji Rev Ame Tugaue, the General Secretary, Rev Tuikilakila Waqairatu, and seven other church leaders appeared in court charged with attending an unauthorised committee meeting. Court action continues and communication by and within the church is being monitored, crippling the churches business.
Last week the political situation in
The British Government is aware of the risks of being seen as a former colonial power lecturing
David and I underlined the concern raised by the Methodist Conference and by Methodists across the world and hoped that the British Government would continue to do all in its power to help seek a resolution to the dreadful situation in
Monday, 9 November 2009
Remembrance Sunday
After the service, some of us retired to the manse for eats, drinks and conversation.