One of my many “favourite places in the world” is Porthcurno in Cornwall and I love standing at the Minack Theatre and looking down at the crystal blue sea, yet another corner of heaven for me. I remember the first time I ever visited the place; it was May 1982; I was staying at the Methodist Guild hotel Treloyhan Manor in St Ives, and we had a day excursion to Lands End and then the more adventurous of us walked along the beautiful coastal path to Porthcurno.
I was a confused 23-year-old at the time, I was working in a well-paid job, with a fully funded company car, to all intents and purposes, I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. It was on that walk that day that the idea of becoming a minister first wormed its way into my mind. I sat at Porthcurno that day talking with a wise old man from Muswell Hill, a retired bank manager who was the host for the week.
Maybe I felt more comfortable talking to a man who I barely knew, but I offloaded all my frustrations to him and my idea of candidating for the ministry, I loved the work I was doing in the church far more than my day job and the idea of working for the Church seemed attractive. Mr Brent, the bank manager from Muswell Hill counselled me “you are doing it for all the wrong reasons” he said “get some life experience under your belt” he suggested “and if God wants you to be a minister, you can be sure that he will tell you when the time is right” I find it remarkable that over forty years later, I can still remember the name of the man who came centre stage in my life for one week, I can even recall his face. It took a further twenty years before I eventually felt the call to ordination.
I valued Mr Brent’s advice, he was right, over the next twenty years my life went in directions I could never have imagined, as I sat at Porthcurno in May 1982, there were some incredible highs, and some desperate lows, I got to know some amazing people, and had to say goodbye to people I loved dearly. I became a Local Preacher and learned new lessons as I flogged away at the training course and was a different man by the time, I eventually offered for the ministry in the autumn of the year 2000. It is only as I look back that those twenty years that I felt “the nudge” through words spoken by people I respected and trusted, time and time again, I resisted the nudges. In the end, the Methodist Church changed the manner of training for the ministry and the final nudge came when I learned that I could train while still working full time, which was essential, given that I was now married with two young children.
The nudge is important, I have learned over the years that it is essential to encourage others to give of their best. There is wisdom in nudging people when we recognise a quality that they have. The nudge is different to pressuring people, the nudge is gentle, affirming, but encouraging. It is also important to listen to the nudges as they come, slowly, piece by piece, the nudges build up until we feel God calling us to the place we ought to be. At the beginning of 2024, nudge others when you can, and be ready to be nudged by God.