The Methodist Church year runs from September to October, so Happy New Year!
Our New Year sees new changes in the Bradford North Circuit as we move to a team ministry. It will take us a little time to get used to not having our own minister; however, we look forward to working with the ministry team and exploring the new opportunities that their different perspectives will offer.
Many of our usual weekly activities have recommenced after the summer vacation; however, this week provided additional blessings:
On Sunday 9 September 2012, Rev Keith Knight, led our Covenant Service. This is a special service where we accept God's love for us and make promises to serve Him through the words of the Covenant Prayer. This is not an easy promise to make as it involves our whole way of living. Keith talked of God having a "memory like a sieve" for if we recognise the imperfect things we say and do, God will readily forgive us and, more importantly, forget those imperfections. He wipes the slate clean for us to start over again. Keith used the story of the prodigal son to illustrate this and to prompt us to consider how we welcome and help others to find their way to receiving God's loving forgiveness.
We came out of church to find a car park full of clean, shiny cars. Gerald, John, James and Jaine had been busy cleaning the cars to raise funds for our church family weekend to Abbot Hall - £80! Well done!
We came out of church to find a car park full of clean, shiny cars. Gerald, John, James and Jaine had been busy cleaning the cars to raise funds for our church family weekend to Abbot Hall - £80! Well done!
Monday morning dawned and a wait at the bus stop was cheered by seeing the school walking buses from our out of school club, Jigsaw. The evening saw a meeting of the Property Group. With over 1,000 people crossing our threshhold each week, a small group of volunteers work very hard in the background to make sure our premises are warm and welcoming. It's not always easy work; however, we are grateful for the help and support offered by users of our premises.
Tuesday was a day of very mixed emotions as the church was full of people celebrating the life of one of our church family whose sudden and untimely death had shocked us all and left all of us feeling bereaved; a reminder both of the fragility of our earthly life and the promise of resurrection life thereafter. Tuesday also saw the start of a new venture which Elaine had felt called to pursue; See and Know. We were thrilled that over 20 mums with babies/toddlers attended and one observer commented:
"It wasn't surreal, it wasn't fabulous, it wasn't awesome (these words get used very inappropriately). It was real, it was positive, it was life giving and life enriching. The atmosphere was quiet (given that there were a lot of children and people in the room), it was purposeful, it was full of love.... yes... it were brill!"
Well done Elaine!
Wednesday saw the church fill with pastoral visitors from across the Bradford North Circuit as we focused on "Nurturing care". It was lovely to meet with members of the ministry team and to share experiences with each other. As we were making preparations in the kitchen our Rainbows/Brownies were having an India evening following Helen's Girl Guiding trip to India and the Himalayas.
This morning, Jackie led our service and helped to us to think about what it means to be part of Team TMC (Thackley Methodist Church). Our conversations focused on "What is Church" and "What is the purpose of church". We looked at the calling of the Methodist Church and used 1 Corinthians 12: 12-37 to see what guidance the bible offers.
All in all a very positive start to a new year - keep it up Team TMC!