Thursday 18 June, 2.30pm – 4pm
A webinar hosted by The Well – part of the Children, Youth and Family Ministry of the Methodist Church
What effects might Covid-19 and the lockdown have had on our mental health and that of the children and young people we serve? How can we encourage positive wellbeing?
Friday 5 June, 2.30pm – 4pm
Webinar: Supporting families
Ministry with families has changed greatly in recent weeks, how can we offer relevant care and support to those in our churches and communities?
This event is organised by the Children, Youth and Family team of the Methodist Church.
A New Vision for Homelessness and Housing
Wednesday 10 June, 11.00 am.
A Zoom Gathering will take place on Wednesday 10 June between 11 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. hosted by Revd Ian Rutherford (Manchester) and Revd Mike Long (London) to discuss a new vision for homelessness and housing in the light of Covid-19.
The two interactive sessions will ask “What are you seeing?” and “What do you want to see?” More background.
For details of the event and access please email ianr7@hotmail.co.uk
Since safeguarding training is not currently available, those who positions require repeat training every four years will have that four year period extended by six months. See more details on the Methodist website.
Join this weekend’s Cliff Festival online, Friday May 22 to Monday May 25.
Current Methodist guidance on reopening church buildings does not relate to Scotland. Phase 1 of the Scottish Government’s route map for the eventual lifting of lockdown restrictions – which will start no earlier than 28th May 2020 – still specifies; ‘No public gatherings permitted except for meetings of two households, outdoors and with physical distancing’.
For the whole the UK – Church property still remains closed, other than for designated activities or for weekly inspections.
Methodist Publishing are offering free UK delivery on online orders.
In the days following the first Easter Sunday, the disciples of Jesus would have gone through any number of different reactions, from uncertainty and anxiety to joy and celebration, through incomprehension and fear to recognition and hope. If the Cross had robbed them of his presence, the Resurrection has restored his presence. Surely Jesus will continue to be with them always?
The Gospel of John (14: 1-21) portrays the disciples wrestling with the dawning reality that Jesus will not continue to be physically present to them. It would seem that they are again to be left bereft and ‘orphaned’. Uncertainty and anxiety threaten once more. In response, Jesus speaks into their incomprehension and fear with the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus reassures them that they are not alone and that his spiritual presence will be renewed in this world through the Spirit. Jesus, through the Spirit, continues with us always as the assurance of God’s love for us.
Let us pray:
Living God, you are our Creator and our Maker
And the very breath of life is given as your gift.
We thank you for the gift of life
And we embrace and treasure that gift.
Living God, you are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Whose presence in the world reveals your love for us.
In the giving of your Son,
You reveal the depths of your love.
Living God, your Son embraced the Cross
And the depths of human suffering.
We thank you that you delivered him
On the day of Resurrection.
Living God, as you spoke to the bereft and the orphaned in days past,
Speak to the bereft and the orphaned in days present.
Speak to the uncertain and the anxious.
Speak into the depths of our incomprehension and fear.
Living God, your promise
Is that we will not be left alone to face the world.
We thank you that through the gift of your Spirit
That promise is fulfilled.
Living God, be with all who sustain our common life at this time,
Carers and nurses, cleaners and porters,
Doctors and ambulance staff, delivery drivers and posties.
Through their giving our common life is sustained.
Living God, as you have watched over us in the past,
Watch over us in the present.
As once more we thank you, that through Christ
And by your Holy Spirit, we are not alone. Amen.
SUNDAY 10th MAY Prayer @ 7pm
As Scotland locked down in March, so our usual way of life came shuddering to a halt. Travel was restricted to an extent not experienced in any living lifetime. Our way of life changed too. Some faced traumatic, heart-rending personal situations, from illness to hospitalisation, anxiousness for and separation from loved ones. Others experienced new risk through their roles, including those serving in hospitals and care homes, and key workers in other sectors that are vital for life. Yet others faced difficult personal situations: hunger, tension in relationships and worse, and overnight, everyone had to find a new way of living life.
Today’s gospel reading from John Chapter 14, tells of a traumatic time in the life of the disciples and Jesus. After three years travelling together around Galilee, they arrive in Jerusalem amidst an atmosphere heavy with threat. Gathering behind a closed door, in the hour of his own need, Jesus sought to offer comfort and guidance to his followers and friends, telling them of a place in God’s house, and that he was going ahead to prepare a place for them. Thomas, bless him, asked the question which is on the hearts of so many, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. Howcan we know the way? To which Jesus replied: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
“Today, in these times, we pray that we may sense Christ’s guiding presence:
Come, Jesus Christ, come my way;
showing me your way, through these disorientating days,
and opening my eyes to your accompanying presence.
Come, Jesus Christ, come my way;
teaching me your truth, through these confounding days
and opening my mind to your living Word.
Come Jesus Christ, come my way;
revealing to me your life, through these bewildering days,
and opening my heart to the fulness of your being.
Amen.
Signed by:
Sunday 10th May 2020 at 4pm on Facebook and YouTube.
Join together with the National Methodist Choir and The National Methodist Youth Brass Band to pray, sing & save lives via All WeCan’s Emergency Coronavirus Appeal.
