Pastoral Letter – East Anglia District Chair of the District – Rev. Julian M. Pursehouse 24:06:2020 Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Over the last few days I’ve been preparing for the Annual Methodist Conference by reading through the numerous agenda items that will be placed before us and assiduously checking the Stations that will be…
Thought for the Day – Wednesday 24th June 2020 Bible reading : Ephesians 6 v 4. “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Benjamin West was just trying to be a good babysitter for his little sister Sally. While his mother was out, he found…
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 28.6.2020. Lectionary Readings Jeremiah 28 v5-9 Jeremiah accuses Hananiah of being a false prophet. Romans 6 v12-23 Obedient slaves of God. Matthew10 v40-42 Rewards. ‘Slave owner’ maybe, but not a ‘taskmaster’. “Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God. I am using these everyday…
I suppose most of us has a secret “wish list”. Some things on it may never come to fruition, but occasionally one of our wishes may come true. It happened to me some time ago. On my wish list was that I would long to be in Rome on Easter Saturday to see all the…
Thought for the day – Monday 22nd June 2020 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future Jeremiah 29:11 In these unprecedented times we have had to, and are continuing to have to, face many new challenges…
Thought of the day – Sunday 21st June 2020 We often refer to Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” and even though it is fourteen weeks since Sunday looked like the kind of Sunday many of us have grown up with and it still feels very strange not attending Sunday worship. Today is Father’s Day and…
Thought for the day – Saturday 20th June 2020 I love roses, which is just as well because when we moved to our bungalow 14 years ago there were many rose bushes. Over the years we have also added to them when we have had special birthdays or anniversaries. After I had organised the Committee…
Thought for the day – Friday 19th June 2020 Micah 6: 6-8 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the…
You may have heard that the government is allowing church buildings to open for private prayer from Monday 15th June and for community worship at the earliest from sometime in July. Our Methodist Connexion has advised us not to open for private prayer unless it is essential to our ministry, which at this point, we do not deem it to be. There is a long and complex checklist that we will have to follow whenever we do decide that we are ready to open our buildings, and it will take time to prepare the building and provide training.
Thought for the day – Thursday 18th June 2020 A Poem Ann Bird who used to be the Methodist Church Pastoral Secretary used the following poem in a workshop I attended. It really spoke to me and I thought it would be good to share it with all of you. You may need to read…