It's been a good week!
Having achieved a significant birthday recently I have been in reflective mood, a sure sign of advancing years! For the whole of my life I have been a churchgoer. In the early days I was taken to church, during some of the middle years I sometimes went reluctantly, for the last 11 years I have been a Minister and it is now expected that I go! Actually, the rhythm of attending worship is part of who I am and I wouldn’t want it any other way.A lifetime of churchgoing affords me a significant vantage point to observe some of the changes that have taken place. Of course the most obvious change has been a steadily declining membership, there are a lot fewer of us at worship each week than there used to be.
However another and perhaps equally significant change is the way our churches fit into the life of the wider community. Most Methodist Churches have at least paid lip service to a sense of social involvement. Historically though this was offered on our terms, for example we would run youth clubs, but only for those youngsters who would come to the evening service also. The thinking behind this although well intentioned was about how we get more people in. In other words, how will this benefit us, rather than how will it benefit them?
We have just completed a really busy week in the life of three of our churches in Gateshead that has illustrated a significant change in our thinking with regard to social involvement.
On Monday May 14th a dedicated group of Christians from a number of churches led by Liz Day opened the Cornerstone Project at Sheriff Hill Methodist Church. Each Monday from 10am – 2pm Cornerstone will offer a Café, Thrift Shop and Listening Service all offered on a not for profit basis. On Thursday of last week the church at St Mark’s held its latest Messy@St Mark’s attended by 50 Mams, Dads and helpers. 'Messy' is 2 hours of craft activities, worship and a shared meal. It is fun for the kids and a meeting place for the parents, a safe place to relax and share. It is free. Then on Saturday 19th at Wesley we held our Open Day, an opportunity for all the groups from Church and Community to come together and support one another. It was a wonderful occasion enjoyed by many, it was good to see so many people with a smile on their faces. At the heart of the Open Day was free admission and free refreshments, a symbolic way of saying that when it comes to community involvement we believe we have something to give and we want to give unconditionally.
The no strings attached approach to community involvement is much more in line with the good news of God’s love made real in Jesus that does not enforce conditions but evokes heartfelt response.
