The Plan and Lectionary

Dear friends,

As a lifelong Methodist, September 1st seems just as significant a beginning of a new year, as January 1st.

It is a time of change as we welcome new staff into the circuit, and a time when we recommence our typical Methodist busyness after the summer break. For those involved in church business it is the beginning of our financial year. For those inclined to prayer and reflection we will have a new Prayer Handbook to support and guide us.

New starts can be daunting, new jobs, new houses, new marriages we are told are some of the most stressful events in our lives. But they can also be renewing, and each year at this time we pray for God’s renewal, for new energy, new imagination and new resources of love to fulfil our life and mission, both as individual disciples and in the fellowship of our churches. We offer that prayer in confidence to the God who declares in the vision of a new heaven and new earth at the end of the book of Revelation; ‘Behold, I make all things new.’

That is both an inspiration and a challenge. For many, church life is an opportunity to hang on to the old. We do greatly value our heritage, the things we have learnt of God in the past, through the church’s tradition. But as we begin a new Methodist year, we remember that we are called to use that tradition in the service of a God who makes all things new. We are called to live out our faith in the present age. The present age is an age of change, in technology, climate, social attitudes. How do we speak of the unchanging love of God, building on our tradition, in ways that make sense today?

That is a perennial challenge, and one we cannot back away from. But at this time of new year, with all the changes, challenges and opportunities, we can pray that it will be a positive time of renewal for us and for our churches. A renewal of faith in our God who through Jesus is already present in the joys and sorrows of our world, and who invites us to join in with them in the joy of sharing God’s love and grace, to bring new life and new hope to a world in need.

Ian Howarth