Dear friends,
I have questioned for a long time the value of Church notices and newsletters and have heard people say over and over again “nobody ever reads them” and I have wondered what the point was in writing them if that were the case. In the beginning, when I first started preaching, you were handed an exercise book in the vestry before worship and were expected to read the notices directly before taking up the offertory, which always felt to be a fruitless exercise, because as soon as the preacher announced “here are the notices for the coming week” it was like a signal to the entire congregation that the collection plate was about to be handed around and they would immediately start to rummage in handbags and pockets to find the elusive coins to chuck into the plate, and hardly anybody was listening to how Mr Dawson was going to entertain the Women’s meeting by talking about his knowledge of compost heaps.
I was delighted last Sunday when people told me how much they had enjoyed reading about our antics erecting our tent, which I mentioned in my last week’s letter, and I came away thinking “people do read what I sit and write after all” so thank you. We publish Thought for the Day every day on the Circuit Website, and it is now automatically posted on Facebook, I always look to see how many “likes” we get and absolutely love it when somebody comments. August is often seen as the month that the Church goes to sleep, a month when nothing much happens, the Church notices become quite sparse and we have a tendency to lump July and August together in Church Newsletters, and it feels as though the Church community are taking a deep breath in preparation for the busy period of September and October.
Having said all of that, I was delighted to see two posts this week on social media, firstly Landseer Road’s Café Church with Barbecue, it is good to see a Church full of families enjoying themselves while worshipping God and we should celebrate the success of this work. The second was a post from The Rev Julian Pursehouse our Chair of the East Anglia Methodist District who preached at the service at Orford Quay on Sunday evening. I was in two minds whether to go or not, Orford is a long drive, and I had a fairly full Sunday, nevertheless Karen and I ate our sandwiches as we drove across to Orford.
There is something special about worshipping God outside and Orford is one of the gems along our stunning Suffolk coastline. At my best guess, there was a congregation of around seventy plus, led by a brass band, Julian was on top form and spoke about the importance of location and having preached several times in the day, it was lovely to be able to sit alongside my wife and be fed for a change. If you have never been to the Orford Quay service, I can commend it to you, the service has been operating for thirty-five years now and is a very special experience. The date is already set for next year 6pm Sunday 6th August 2023, why not put it in your diary.
Church notices, Websites, and social media are more important than ever now. We are trying to attract new ministers to come and work among us and you can be certain that when a potential minister looks at the profiles, they will turn to websites and social media to check out the claims we make. Stationing is a tough process with around only half the ministers available for the appointments to fill, please seize every opportunity you can to promote the work of your Church, I am perhaps more confident now than I have ever been, that people do actually read what we write!
May God bless you in all you do.
Derek