Last updated 17-4-08	Bethel Methodist Church South Normanton, Derbyshire
Pastoral Letters	Preachers and Events "...he commanded us to preach unto the people,..." Acts 10 v 42 AV/KJ Sunday Morning Evening   Mar.       2nd Peter Nursall No Service Mothering Sunday 9th Rev. Shipley No Service Passion Sunday 16th Rev. Diane Hare No Service Palm Sunday 23th Rev.Derek Kelington Sacrament David Smith Easter Sunday 30th Denis Morecroft No Service Local Preachers Sunday Apr.       6th Chris. Briggs No Service   13th David Hopkinson No Service Vocations Sunday 20th Rev. Diane Hare Sacrament No Service One World 27th Susan Barker Rev. Adrian Smith Sacrament   May       4th Rev. George Newall No Service   11th David Smith No Service Pentecost 18th Hilda Brownsill No Service   25th Rev. Diane Hare Sacrament No Service   Back to Top Pastoral Letter   Rev. Diane Hare (Superintendent) Rev. Adrian Smith (Pastoral Co-ordinator) Spring Plan 2008 Dear Friends This last few days, once the early morning frosts have gone, have felt like the beginning of Spring - and it's still only mid-February! The early spring flowers are out in the garden, and there's a real feeling of new life bursting through the darkness of the earth and the coldness of winter. And that theme is a very powerful one to carry with us as we make our spiritual journey through Lent towards Holy Week and the glorious celebration of Easter Day. It's a journey through darkness to light, through death to resurrection life - and it's a journey that profoundly shapes our attitude towards life in this world, as well as our faith in what lies beyond.   Sadly, even as Christians, we're sometimes inclined to "live on the wrong side of Easter" - in other words, to live as though we don't really believe that God can transform our lives, and the life of the Church, here and now. We're delighted to see new life in the natural world around us, but when Jesus described himself as Resurrection and Life surely he was saying something tremendously important about God's power to revitalise our ordinary everyday human existence. Living in the light of the resurrection is about knowing deep down that there is light beyond the darkness and therefore being able to face life's difficulties and disappointments with steadfast endurance and a positive hope. Paul talks about this in his second letter to the Corinthians; in the passage set for Ash Wednesday this year he seeks to encourage the Christian community (and himself) by reminding them that:-"....dying we still live on; disciplined by suffering, we are not done to death; in our sorrows we have always cause for joy; poor ourselves, we bring wealth to many; penniless, we own the world" (2 Corinthians 6:9b-10). This is not just positive thinking - seeing the cup as half-full rather than half-empty; it's about realising that God has new dimensions of life to open up to us, if only we will let him.   And that takes us to the heart of resurrection itself ! Without the experience of darkness and death, without the willingness to let go of the "old life", there can be no true experience of resurrection life. In our personal lives, this may mean allowing old habits and attitudes within us to die, or perhaps giving up some of the activities that have kept us so busy, so that there is room for new life to grow and blossom. In our church life, particularly as we face the challenge of "restructuring for mission", it will mean thinking about how we can witness more effectively by sharing resources, working with other churches and exploring new patterns of relating to our communities in worship and in outreach. But we can only do this if we are willing to make space for God to lead us into new adventures of faith. One of the questions frequently asked in ecumenical situations is "What do we need to stop doing separately, in order to do new and better things together?" That question is equally relevant to our changing situation. Some will see only the loss of the old; others will see beyond that to the promise of resurrection and new life. Yours, in Christ - with every blessing for the Easter season and beyond. Diane   Spring Plan 2008 "....and the life everlasting" Dear Friends A few weeks ago we had at our home an evening dinner for retired ministers and their wives. There were nine of us and before we dispersed we talked about the arrangements for next year and one of the retired ministers' wives said "Oh, I don't think I'll be here next year". Quick as lightning the wife of another retired minister said (probably without too much thought!) "Really, are you thinking of dying before then?" To which the minister replied, "No its not that - though I do think of dying often". 1 don't think that anyone under 40 thinks much about dying, but after 60, many people do think about it and rightly so. What goes through our minds not just about death itself but about the "life everlasting"? What do we believe? The common belief of most Christians is that, after death, we go to heaven. Anything over and above that belief is hazy and unclear. What does scripture teach? In the New Testament the word "Saint" is not used in the singular - always in the plural. "Paul and Timothy servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints at Philippi. Who are the saints? Not people who have been canonised - St. so and so - there is no New Testament warrant for that. No, the saints are all the people who belong to the Lord, all Christians in every age; we are all called to be saints. It is the saints with all their blemishes who are members of the Kingdom both here and hereafter. The church militant we understand (it comprises all Christians here on earth) but what of the church triumphant? What happens after this life on earth ends? We are now in the season of Lent, the culmination of which leads us to the joy of the Resurrection. St Paul has something very significant to say regarding Jesus rising from death. "Christ was raised to life the first-fruits of the harvest of the dead for as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in proper order; Christ the first-fruits and afterwards at His Coming those who belong to Christ" 1 Cor 15:20-23. The `Coming' to which he refers has clearly not yet happened so that the dead in Christ have not yet been raised. At some time in the future (the Second Coming of Christ) the dead will be raised and transformed into the glorious likeness of Christ (read all of 1 Cor: 15 and Phil 3: 20-21). So what of the immediate future? What happens after death now? The Apostle speaks of "going to be with Christ" and of being "asleep" in Him. Clearly we are with Him now and until such time when Ile comes and we are raised and transformed and made like him. For now remember the words of Jesus to the dying thief "Today you will be with me in Paradise". The really important thing to remember, is that in this life as in the life to come, "nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom 8 v 39. Remember also the lovely words of Richard Baxter "My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim, But 'tips enough that Christ knows all And I shall be with Him (MHB 647). With love to you all and best wishes for a meaningful Lent and glorious Easter. As ever, Adrian   Dear Friends Aug 2007   First of all a big thank you for the gift of a three months' sabbatical; it's been a wonderful time for reflection, relaxation and renewal. I've had the opportunity for serious reading, for renewing old friendships, for exploring topics I don't normally have time for, and for "being" rather than constantly "doing". The highlight was the chance to revisit South Africa and explore how the ending of apartheid, which was an emerging reality in 1989, has enabled the country to shape its new democratic future. Over the next few months I shall certainly be sharing the fruits of my sabbatical in different ways, but for the moment I'm just glad to be back in circuit life with a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm.   Today, as I was busy round the house, I had the words of a hymn buzzing round inside my head. "New every morning ....." is a hymn by John Keble that I remember singing in school assemblies many years ago. I can't think when I last sang it, but suddenly it's resurfaced from the depths of memory; even though the language is a bit dated, the hymn is still a powerful reminder of the freshness of our experience of God. It speaks of new mercies each day, new dangers against which- God has protected us, new sins forgiven, new thoughts and understandings of God, new hopes of heaven. That sense of freshness of spiritual experience is something we need to hold on to and nurture. It's often easier to think of what God has done for us in the past-than to be able to share where God is in our present experiences.   Keble's hymn goes on to speak of what is sometimes described as "the sacrament of the present moment" - in other words, the ability to sense the holiness and the presence of God in the ordinary routine of life, in our friends and our neighbours, and our familiar settings. Of course it's important for us to stretch our spiritual horizons and see the activity of God in other parts of his church and his world, but our special task is to recognise what God is doing in our midst and to share with him in his mission for this place and time. It's been good to be away for a while, but it's even better to be back home in circuit. Yours, with love in Christ,   Diane   Letter from Rev. Adrian Smith (Pastoral Co-ordinator) SOME SOCIAL CUSTOMS Dear Friends In the lifetime of many of us social customs have changed and, in relation to the Church, there have been changes too. Take for instance baptisms. At the beginning of my ministry I had many more requests for baptism than latterly. Or weddings. Everyone knows that until comparatively recently couples could marry in two places only: in a church or in a register office. Or funerals. To conduct a funeral - any funeral - was virtually the prerogative of a Christian minister. How different things are now! How customs change! Often we bemoan these changes and feel that they are a sign of the dwindling influence of the Church in Britain. That may be so, but think further. Why were all those babies baptised? Were all the families involved worshipping Christians? Many times I have been phoned in the past and a hesitating voice (usually the mother) has said, "I'd like to have my child `done', can we arrange a date?" All too often the service has been. an excuse for a party afterwards and the seriousness of what is requested has not featured in their thinking at all. Requests for baptisru are fewer now but there is almost always a sound reason for the request when made and parents take their- vows in good faith. Then consider marriage. Fewer people get: married these days and, when they do, there are many more places where they can be legally married. Some opt for a romantic castle in, say, Ireland or Scotland, or in cases where we have been involved, at Makeney Hall Hotel and Bolsover Castle. Of course, the best place to marry for Christians is in their own church. God is joining them together as man and wife and doing it in the midst of His people in His house. But for folk who are not Christians why should they be expected to make vows in the presence of a God in whom they do not obviously believe? It is surely on the verge of hypocrisy to encourage a couple to do this. Then, there is the funeral service. Early in. my ministry it was the noun for virtually all funerals to conform to a pattern. Hymns, Bible readings and an oration or tribute to the deceased's life. Now almost anything goes. Rock music, readings from here and there, and conducted often by atheists, agnostics - anyone who is invited by the family to act on their behalf Yet, again we must ask why someone who has not been a worshipping Christian and who has no faith - why should such a person have to have a Christian. funeral service? It isn't appropriate for them and we should not give someone something in death that they would not have wished for in life. So where does all this leave us? We are sad that here in Britain there are not more Christians for whom Christian baptism, Christian marriage and a Christian funeral is right and proper. Yet for many people these things are neither appropriate nor wanted and there is now an openness, an honesty, that was perhaps previously lacking. Christians are now more and more seen to be Christian in all that they do. We are, after all, called to be different - the root meaning of the word `holy' -- and our calling is not to be conformed to the practices of society but, as St Paul put it, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, of our whole being, by the mighty power of God. ooo ----- OOO-----ooo Our very best wishes go with our Superintendent, Diane, as she begins tier sabbatical. A sabbatical is a precious gift the Methodist Church gives to its ministers and deacons every severn years. It is time out, a time of refreshment and renewal and, as the minister is blessed, so also in due course is the circuit. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Diane. With every good wish. Yours as ever, Adrian
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