20 years on...

Today marks the end of my first 20 years in Circuit ministry in the Methodist Church in Great Britain as a Presbyter. I say that last thing because I spent 2 years prior to being selected for ministry serving as a Lay Pastor to 2 congregations in Leicestershire. But this could very well be the mid-point of my active ministry: How has the experience been?

Following 3 years training in Bristol, the first 6 years were spent in post-industrial County Durham, in the town of Stanley. Well, I call it a town - that's how it seemed to me when I arrived there fresh from college - but I soon discovered that it was more of a collection of pit villages, each with their own particular identity and each lacking the one thing that gave them that identity - the pit. These had closed back in the 1970s, but their shadow still hung heavily in the air and in the hearts and lives of the people.

Methodism in County Durham is, to all intents and purposes, the established church: it was easier to start a Methodist Society as these communities were being built than it was to establish an Anglican parish. Consequently, if people didn't go to church there it was the Methodist Church they didn't go to - unless they needed a christening, a wedding (often after the second christening) or a funeral. So, my time there was largely spent on what were laughingly called 'occasional offices', making many contacts with the 'unchurched', but having very little time to develop those contacts as a fresh 'batch' came along with at times alarming regularity. I averaged 20 Weddings a year, around 60 christenings ('wet' and 'dry'), and roughly 80 funerals: many opportunities to 'sow the seed' of the gospel, but little time for harvest.

After 6 years, and having guided one of the churches through their centenary celebrations, I moved from Stanley to Wetherby in West Yorkshire - only about 10 miles from home - to take charge of 3 churches there. Sociologically a very different appointment, in that Wetherby is, in many areas, a lot more affluent a place, with the consequent challenges that that brings in ministry terms. Together we saw in the new millennium and explored new ways of worship and of doing and being church - explorations that did not come without issues, in-fighting and insensitivity - from me as well as them. I learned a lot about people and about ministry there, but not without considerable cost to my soul and my psyche at times.

The Wetherby years were also the time when I spent a lot of time engaged in Chaplaincy. Alongside the 3 churches I had care of, I was also the Free Churches chaplain at HMYOI Wetherby. This not only provided many opportunities to engage these young lads in conversations about important issues, but also to introduce them to stories that had been a part of my life almost from the beginning. There is a particular joy to being able to tell the story of the Prodigal Son to a 17 year-old lad for the first time and to see the recognition in his face as he reflects with you on its timeless qualities. In contrast to the work in the prison, I was also chaplain to 35 (Wetherby) Squadron of the Air Training Corps: a generally motivated bunch of young people, more or less the same age as the YOIs. No generation can be stereotyped: hopefully all generations can be given hope and purpose for their lives.

And so, in 2004, to Sheffield. For the last 8 years I have been minister of Wesley Hall, Crookes, a large Methodist Chapel with a relatively small congregation, sitting in the shadow of one of the largest Anglican churches in the country (St Thomas' Crookes). In that time we have together sought to catch a vision for our place in that community, and to develop Wesley Hall as a focus for many activities in the Crookes area. From there we reach out to young families through the Toddler Group, to the elderly with the Lunch Club, and to young lads through Boy's Brigade. Our buildings are used by MENCAP to house offices, by choirs and opera groups, for Tae Kwon Do and Zumba classes. We struggle with what to do with a building that is Grade 2-listed and showing increasing signs of being 104 years-old, but increasingly rely on God's strength to get us through.

Alongside Wesley Hall, my only consistent 'charge' over the 8 year, I have cared for congregations at Stanwood for 6 years, Rivelin Glen & Stannington for 5 years, Walkley for 2 years and Dungworth for 1 year. Each have had their own opportunities and challenges, yet remain cheerful. For the last 2 years Wesley Hall & Walkley have functioned as one church, sharing a church council but retaining their separate buildings and worshipping communities. We are still working out the implications of this for both communities, but it has been good to share in mission, worship and fellowship over the past 2 years.

So, 20 years of outreach, mission, ministry, worship, frustration, sadness and joy; sharing Christ with God's people within and outside the church building and the church community. And after 20 years, if I'm honest, I don't really think I'd rather be anywhere else (though I would be lying if I said I'm not tempted on an almost daily basis to pack it all in!) Only God really knows where the next 20 years will take me - I hope, by God's grace, to still be active then

A New Start

For six years from 1998 to 2004 I was minister of Wetherby Methodist Church. For four of those years life was good, things seemed to be going fine, and then a bombshell struck and life became very uncomfortable for me and my family. Without going into too much detail, we left there in 2004 quite seriously disheartened and quite deeply wounded, and I have carried the emotional and psychological scars of our leaving since then.

I hadn't been back to the church since, and had had little contact with people from there, until last evening. Over the last few years the church has embarked on a major redevelopment scheme: removing the pews, opening up the entrance to the church, making more space in the gallery and remodelling the ancillary premises, and yesterday was the official reopening and rededication. We had been invited to attend a celebration service yesterday evening, and it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I returned to the church. It was not easy for me to go back.

I have to say that I was amazed at the transformation. Although the church appeared smaller there was in fact more seating available; the space at the front had been enlarged, and the whole building now looks lighter and more inviting. Hearing the story of the project, and my successor's involvement in it, it was clear to me that he had been the right person at the right time for that church: there was no way that I could have handled that project as successfully, and that for me was a great cathartic experience. To see the way that the church had grown - there were a number of new faces in leadership and in the congregation - and had united behind the vision of creating a base for spiritual growth and outreach and a flexible community resource, was a real encouragement to me. I was also heartened by the welcome that Judith & I received - though I must confess that putting names to some faces was a challenge at times!

I believe that a major healing has begun in my life and ministry as a result of last night: it is clear to me now, in a way that it hasn't been for seven years, that it was right for us to leave Wetherby when we did. Maybe the manner of our going was not quite how it could and should've been, but they have the right person leading them for this stage of their journey. Sheffield has been good for me, and it has always felt right for us to be here, but a significant part of my ministry here has been adversely affected by the effects of our leaving Wetherby. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." [Romans 8:28]

I'm grateful to God for the new start in the life of Wetherby Methodist Church, and wish them every success in this new chapter in their life, but I'm also grateful to God for the healing that has begun in my soul.