The Reverend Rob Frost introduced an initiative a number of years ago centred on Pentecost called “On Fire” and the idea was for churches to reach beyond their buildings, go out into the streets and parks and celebrate the Pentecost experience when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and equipped them to witness to the community around them. I remember that weekend so well, we had planned a huge event for the six Methodist Churches in our part of West Yorkshire. That Saturday was going to be an incredible experience, we had a range of stalls a circus entertainer and a whole load of events for families and Children, it was all set to be a day we would all remember.
We woke up to pouring rain on the Saturday morning and I felt confident that the sun would come out, we had done all this work preparing for the day, all God had to do was give us a sunny day, I remember thinking that wasn’t too much to ask for. I was so confident that a couple of us went to church to load several tables into my car and transport them to the venue. I kept an eye on the weather and as the morning developed so did the rain and of course everybody knows that the weather at the end of May is always nice? We had an emergency meeting just after lunch and decided that the only option was to relocate to inside one of our Church buildings, we were sure that the rain would cause people to stay away and waited apprehensively until the start time.
Looking back today, we possibly broke every health and safety rule and this was long before risk assessments were as commonplace as they are today, the hall was crammed full with people selling wares, table top games and entertainment, the high point for me was when a circus entertainer did a tight rope walk on the platform of the schoolroom, his head only a couple of inches off the ceiling, juggling was out of the question and his unicycle ride was restricted to about a twenty five feet journey. The event had felt to be a complete washout at the beginning of the afternoon and even as we loaded cars up after the event was over, the rain was still pouring.
The irony of an event called “On Fire” on a day when a fire would have struggled to take hold wasn’t wasted on me and for years I’ve looked back on that day and smiled. The important point was, however that the Spirit of God is powerful enough to not let a drop of rain extinguish it.
We celebrate that same fire coming into the Church and into our hearts this weekend and I am once again reminded that all things are possible to God.
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