The Conference is the Church’s governing body, which meets once a year to discuss matters affecting the Church and wider society. Around 1,400 people are expected to attend the opening weekend of the Conference, which will see the induction of the new President and Vice President. Up to 3,000 people are expected to attend ordination services for new Methodist ministers, which will take place in venues throughout the region, including Liverpool and Chester cathedrals.

Revd James Booth, Chair of the Liverpool Methodist District, said: “I am delighted to be able to welcome this year’s Methodist Conference to the splendidly refurbished Theatre and Convention Centre in Southport. Our presence in Conference in the town and region will visibly affirm our continuing commitment to serve the communities of which we are part – and we will be making important decisions about our future life as the Methodist Church.”

The Conference was last held in Southport in 1999. Hot topics on this year’s agenda include debates on the ‘Big Society’ , poverty and inequality , climate change and the Church’s involvement in the 2012 Olympic Games. All of the Conference reports are available online here. Those unable to attend the Conference will be able to watch the debates live online via the Methodist Conference website.

The Conference will also celebrate the Church’s new hymn collection, Singing the Faith, due to be published this September. The collection was the subject of special editions of BBC1’s Songs of Praise and BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Service on 26 June. More information about Singing the Faith can be found here .

Visit the website to find out more  http://www.methodistconference.org.uk/

This year’s Methodist Conference will take place in Southport, at the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre .

The reports on the agenda for this year’s Methodist Conference are all now available online here .

Live video of the main Conference debates from the main hall will be streamed online and people will also be able to watch debates later through the Conference website.

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Key events and issues for debate will include:

Saturday

· The inaugural address of the President and Vice-President of the Conference, Revd Lionel Osborn and Mrs Ruth Pickles.

Sunday

· Presentation of the Handwritten Bible – a full transcript of the Bible handwritten by Methodists from every part of Great Britain.

Monday

· Report of the General Secretary of the Methodist Church .

· Carbon Reduction – the Conference is due to make a major statement on climate change, including practical, ethical and theological perspectives.

Tuesday

· Report on More Than Gold– helping churches make the most of the 2012 Olympic Games.

· Celebration of the new Methodist hymn collection, Singing the Faith , due to be published in September 2011.

· Research on the 18-30s age range, also known as the 'Missing Generation' in today’s churches.

Wednesday

· Discussion of the latest report on the Anglican-Methodist Covenant , which urges the Churches to join forces in a more far-reaching way than ever before

· Debates on the Big Society , poverty and inequality .

Please note that this timetable may change as Conference business progresses.

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We are pleased to announce the webcasting service of the Methodist Conference.

Many of the sessions including the Reception into Full Connexion are available live and also as an archive through the Conference website www.methodistconference.org.uk

Though we are unable to stream the ordination services, we hope you will take up the opportunity to see other parts of the Conference from the comfort of your computer screen or smartphone.

Archived content will be available the following day, and orders of service are available for download.

Please click here to see the current session of the Conference Live

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02 July 2011

New President of Methodist Conference says Church should be more welcoming

The new President of the Methodist Conference, Revd Lionel Osborn, challenged the assumption that the Methodist Church was welcoming in his inaugural address to the Methodist Conference.

At the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre today, Mr Osborn emphasised the need for pastoral relationships in the church that go beyond a 30 second chat at the door on the way out.

“The number of times I’ve heard people say “we’re a welcoming church” and the number of times I’ve wanted to ask “Who told you that?” – for the aspiration and the reality may be two different things,” said Mr Osborn. “A relationship that does not have a pastoral element to it is hardly worthy of the name.”

He commended churches that organised welcoming teams to greet newcomers and praised the new vicar of a neighbouring Anglican church who had decided to open the doors every day.

“Whilst I am concerned about what is happening at the front door of the church I’m equally concerned about what is happening at the back door: those who slip away due to our pastoral neglect or remain but feel disappointed or uncared for,” he said, adding that churches can build a bridge between themselves and the community in small as well as great ways.

Mr Osborn worked as a nursing orderly in Norfolk before offering for the Methodist ministry. He trained at Wesley College Bristol and has served in the Ripley (Derbyshire), Bury (Lancashire), Bramhall (Cheshire) and North Shields and Whitley Bay Circuits over 25 years. He has been Chair of the Newcastle upon Tyne Methodist District for the past ten years.

The full text of President's address follows:

Pastoral Care as Disciples of Jesus

I must begin with three words of thanks. First and foremost to my wife Charlotte for her unending love, understanding support and wise counsel. Then to my P.A. Diane who has worked alongside me for 15 years. I am reminded of the story that David Watson used to tell of the unappreciated secretary who decided to get her revenge on her boss. He was to give an important lecture and as usual she typed his notes without a word of thanks but when during his speech he came to the bottom of the first page and read “we shall now consider this matter under fifteen headings” he was alarmed to turn over the page and find it blank except for the words: “You’re on your own now mate”! So Diane with much relief - thank you!

And then my thanks to Traidcraft based in the north-east who have provided me with a cassock alb and to the Newcastle upon Tyne District who have kindly given me a preaching scarf and Eucharistic stole which I shall wear during my Presidential year. Someone said to me at our recent Synod: “Its going to be a wonderful year for our District while you’re President” which I thought could be taken in at least two ways but suffice to say I’m honoured to serve the best District in Methodism as their Chair. Thank you for all your love, encouragement and prayers.

There are many I know who would be as amazed as me that I’m standing here today. My Sunday School teacher who sent me to stand outside because she saw me as a disruptive influence in her class. My mentor Raymond George who on noticing me reading the Sports Argus during his lectures on liturgy spoke to me most severely as only he could. My Father in God Donald English who remarked on one occasion that the sooner I left Wesley College Bristol the better it would be for all concerned. My own Father who told me that as I never worked hard I’d never get anywhere! And my Mother who would have cried and would have prayed today - not least for the Church! And the various churches, Circuits and Districts in which I’ve served are no doubt be thinking of the mysterious ways in which God and the church moves!

So I thank the dear friend who wrote to me after my designation as President, “Congratulations on your new job. This must be an exciting time for you. You get to show a whole new group of people how incompetent you are.” He had it about right!

“Which lunatic should run the asylum?” These were Sir Humphrey Appleby’s less than promising words as he sought to manoeuvre the appointment of a new leader in the well known television series - Yes Prime Minister. Various candidates you remember were ruled out for good bad or indifferent reasons until they eventually alighted on Jim Hacker as a balance. He wasn’t too far left or too far right or too far anything really and when someone commented that there have been less likely Prime Ministers they all agreed but couldn’t think of one!

Balance - But perhaps balance is not as pejorative a word as Sir Humphrey would have us believe. Indeed along with the word pragmatic they might be thought to sum up the ethos of Methodism and I am honoured and proud if the Methodist Church believe that I can offer it as President. So I am unashamedly:

Evangelical - For I believe that at the heart of Christian faith is a profound relationship with God through Jesus Christ and I long for people to discover that for themselves. I believe in the centrality of the Cross and Resurrection and in the overriding authority of Scripture but I don’t find that that provides me with answers to every question or that despite living in Newcastle every moral or ethical decision is black and white. Indeed I have some sympathy with John Robinson of Honest to God fame who towards the end of his life said that he believed more and more about less and less!

Sacramental - For the sacraments - and especially that of Holy Communion - have become more and more important to me and a continual means of grace. And yet it is a means and not an end and I have to guard against a spirituality that becomes dry and lifeless and a mere going through the motions.

Ecumenical - For I long and pray for the unity of the church in visible form and want to encourage every initiative to bring it nearer. It is for me about common sense as well as common grace. Yet I am proud to be a Methodist and more excited than I have ever been about what God is doing in the Methodist Church today and whatever the shape of the church might look like in 20 or 30 years time I believe we as Methodists will have an enormous amount to put into the mix for the enrichment of the whole.

And having said all of that I thank God for those who do not carry an evangelical, sacramental or ecumenical label, who may carry a different label or no label at all but from whom I have learnt so much .

So Balance for me is important both within these convictions themselves and in holding them together as one. And yes of course at its worst “balance” can simply be a euphemism for lazy thinking or a desire to never cause offence. And I’m well aware that one person's balance is another person's imbalance so to quote Raymond George “I used to think that I was somewhere in the middle and then discovered that everyone else had moved”! So I smile to myself when apart from evangelical, sacramental and ecumenical I have also been described as liberal, charismatic and radical, for it not only depends on where you’re coming from but where others are coming from too. But at is best balance can be a strong word especially when it seeks to embrace the best of every tradition and offers it to make up what is lacking in every other.

So in one of his hymns we are invited by Richard Jones, a former President of Conference, to “Bring your traditions’ richest store, your hymns and rites and cherished creeds; explore our visions, pray for more, since God delights to meet fresh needs”.

And this need for balance of course is also a part of our own discipleship too. The “breathing in” of scripture, the “breathing out” of prayer. Our receiving in worship, our giving in service (or what Wesley called works of piety and works of mercy). Our commitment to the church, to the world, to our families and friends and to ourselves- it’s not always an easy balance to maintain. And within our Connexion and within each District, Circuit and local church that balance is continually being worked out too. If we spend our money here we can’t spend it there. If we ask that person to serve at one level they might need to lay down their work at another. If we can’t fill all our appointments who decides which are the most significant? What does a balanced diet of worship look like and how can we avoid upsetting everyone in equal measure? Such interaction is indeed a balancing act and although it requires much grace on every side it is worth pursuing.

So I affirm balance rightly understood and affirm it as essential for what it means to be a Methodist Christian today. But in one area of our Church’s life I have become increasingly concerned that we have become unbalanced. Which is why “Pastoral Care as Disciples of Jesus” is a theme I hope to explore not just this afternoon but throughout my Presidential Year and thus build on the report on the Theology of Pastoral Care which is coming before Conference this week. And it is of course the Pastoral Care we offer to each other that is my chief concern. So let me begin with:

LANGUAGE

For am I the only person who cringes when I hear the word “visitors” used when folk are welcomed at the beginning of worship? It’s no doubt an improvement on “strangers” which I also heard recently but it still conveys a sense of transience with the expectation that we may not see such a person again. Well as Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are those who expect nothing. They shall never be disappointed!” Or think of the way in which directions are sometimes given in the notices. "The crèche is in the Cromwell Building." Fine - but where’s that? “Toilets are in the narthex” What? “Coffee is available afterwards, just follow the crowd”. I did that once and ended up in weight watchers! “If you would like more information talk to the Church Stewards”. Well, I might if I knew who they were! You see subliminally we’re giving out the “churchy” message that because we know, everyone else is bound to know too whereas in fact as I discovered only a few weeks ago a lady who’d been coming to church for over 60 years had never stayed for coffee because she’d been too embarrassed to ask where it was and no one had every told her. So the number of times I’ve heard people say “We’re a welcoming church” and the number of times I’ve wanted to ask “Who told you that?” for the aspiration and the reality may be two quite different things.

There is a church I know well that always decorates its building beautifully for Christmas. Last year they placed in the window of the church a nativity scene made of reed. It was stunning. There was only one problem - the figures were all facing inwards and a black cloth obscured them from the view of the many people who passed by. In spite of being in many ways one of the most welcoming churches I’ve ever been to it seemed somehow to illustrate how quite inadvertently we forget who its all for and who God is all for.

And what of our use of the word “Door Steward”? In Psalm 84 the Psalmist hints at the privilege of being a door-keeper in the house of the Lord and indeed it is but it is surely more than opening a door and handing out a book? So I’m always impressed by those churches who have not so much door stewards as welcoming teams and where people commit themselves to be trained for such an important task and are available regularly so they can see who hasn’t been before and who is missing and are on hand after the service as well as before. (And yes of course you can be over welcomed but I don’t often hear that complaint!)

And what of class leaders and pastoral visitors? It was one of the geniuses of John Wesley to place disciples of Jesus in The Methodist tradition in “classes” and I believe that Home or Cell Groups are a worthy successor especially when within them there is a balance of worship, learning, prayer and sharing, which are all vital in our Church. Yet this should never make redundant the role of the Pastoral Visitor. Rather I am convinced that they are one of the most undervalued groups within the life of our church today. They are an essential expression of our commitment that “all are welcome in this place” and yet are rarely prayed for or commissioned in our churches and are sometimes ill-prepared for their role, and perhaps it is this that has led in some places to membership tickets simply being handed around after the service with the “Oh I know you’re alright” comment! Well if only they did really know.

And then we still too often speak of “Ministers in Other Appointments” even though that phrase is no longer in our standing orders. “Other appointments” as though they were nothing to do with us. “Other appointments” as though there is a lesser form of ministry for those who can’t hack the real thing - namely what we’re used to. So I am anxious that those who work on our behalf in Prisons, Hospitals, Schools or Work-places or as Pioneer Ministers can pastorally sometimes feel very much on the edge of things and even as though they didn’t exist. And this can equally apply as much to lay people as ministers of course so I remember someone telling me how they had once worked for Scripture Union and had then sensed God’s call to train as a teacher. And how when they were with Scripture Union everyone at church asked after them and they were prayed for regularly but that when they became a teacher it all suddenly stopped whereas as they said the reality was that they needed prayer and pastoral care far more as a teacher in the inner city than ever they did as a worker with Scripture Union!

RELATIONSHIP

For whilst I am concerned about what is happening at the front door of the church I’m equally concerned about what is happening at the back door as it were - those who slip away due to our pastoral neglect or those who remain but feel disappointed or uncared for and I want to speak particularly to ministers now and include myself. So I’m just old enough to remember the advice that was given to me at college about never being found in your slippers after 8.00am and never without your dog-collar by nine. And I recall how each day was to be divided into three sections, mornings in the study, afternoons visiting and evenings at meetings. And it took me about half an hour in Circuit to realise just how impractical that was - that ministry doesn’t fit neatly into three compartments even though the basic principle has something to commend it. And now that emails seem to require an immediate response at any time of day or night (although whether it has to be that immediate is questionable and whether an email is the most effective way of being pastoral is questionable too). And when meetings take place in morning or afternoon just as much as evening - developing a pattern of ministry becomes ever more difficult and there is never enough time for everything.

But I’m aware that life and ministry has changed in other ways too and that very often the career of a minister's spouse is as equally as much a calling as that of the minister themselves and that that has implications for child-care, educational needs and not least time with the family. So I recall Donald English forcibly reminding us that most of us took our marriage vows before our ordination vows and that that should be the order of our priorities.

And furthermore I recognise that in many places more time and care is given to Baptismal and Marriage Preparation and the needs of the bereaved than previously and I applaud that.

And yet I remain concerned that Pastoral Care through visiting (or even telephone calls) has in many places become a thing of the past except when an emergency arises. For some it’s a question of time. For others it is low down on their list of priorities. Some frankly regard it as unimportant or unnecessary making reference to the fact that God had not called them to be domestic chaplains. But I believe they are wrong and I think therefore their ministry is in danger of becoming unbalanced.

So I reflect Theologically on the ministry of Jesus. For at the very heart of the Gospel is the pastoral image of Jesus the Good Shepherd which despite the fact that many of us have never seen a shepherd at work and certainly not operating as in Jesus day, still strongly resonates with us even though it is not without its difficulties. And it is not of course merely an image, for Jesus throughout his ministry demonstrates in words and actions what knowing his sheep, calling his sheep, listening to his sheep, loving his sheep, laying down his life for the sheep reaching out to the lost sheep looks like as an indication of what God is like. And it is this of course to which Peter is commissioned. So it is not surprising that at the Presbyteral Ordination Services that many of us will share in tomorrow the call to Peter to “tend my sheep and feed my lambs” is echoed over and over again not least when The President says to the newly ordained:- “Be shepherds to the flock of Christ. As you exercise mercy, do not forget justice, as you minister discipline do not forget mercy; that when Christ the Chief Shepherd comes in glory he may count you among his faithful servants”.

It is this that forms the backdrop to all I want to say next for I am not simply calling for a re-examination of the place of pastoral care within our churches life and its ministry for its own sake but as disciples - learners and followers - of Jesus.

Pastorally and theologically, and our treasured word: Connexion. But what meaning does it have unless it is to do with being in relationship, and a relationship that does not have a Pastoral element to it is hardly worthy of the name? For as Martin Luther reminded us “it is the personal pronouns that matter”. A colleague Chair told me of a time he was invited to lunch after worship by a couple in the congregation and as he looked around the front room noticed the picture of a young man on the mantelpiece and made reference to it. The whole story came out. How their son had died in his late teenage years and of how this had rocked although not destroyed their faith and that they still found his death distressing twenty years later and didn’t always react well at church as they put it. “Well I’m sure that successive ministers have been supportive” said my colleague. “Well it’s hard to know really” they replied. “We’ve never seen one”. And here is the punch-line: “It’s not the kind of thing you can talk about in 30 seconds at the church door is it?” And if you say “Well they should have asked the minister to call” I ask “should they?” Or did they make the excuse that so many kindly Methodists make about us that we’re too busy? I was saddened by this story as I am by the stories of some of our Supernumerary ministers or their widows and the elderly members of our churches who can’t now come to worship yet have so much to share and who so much value prayer with others but never have the opportunity for either.

Pragmatically and that other “Methodist” word I mentioned earlier. For I don’t think some ministers recognise how much pastoral care paves the way for so much else in ministry. I was visiting a congregation recently who wanted to tell me how wonderful their new Minister was. “Was it his preaching?” I asked “Or his conduct of meetings?” They looked puzzled. “Oh no its nothing like that” they said. It's just that we know he cares. He has visited many of us already. He listens to us and prays with us. And although he’s introduced some new things into worship and has some ideas of how the premises might be better used which we weren’t sure about at first we trust him because we know him and he knows us. And I spoke to this minister afterwards and he said that this level of pastoral care had been hard work but that it had paid dividends in so many ways. It had informed his preaching, it had opened doors - literally and metaphorically - it had encouraged those who were working so hard for the Lord and the church, it had been more fulfilling than he imagined - and that although such Pastoral Care was important for its own sake it had in fact increased the size of the congregation too. And as I heard this story it reminded me of my recent visit to the Methodist Church in Estonia and hearing that the churches that are growing there have only one thing in common - good Pastoral Care!

Personally - So I recall how I came to faith and why I became a Christian and although others preaching and prayer played a significant part it was in the end people that mattered. The minister who played with me for what seemed like hours when I was a small child, The Tent Officer at a Christian camp who stayed with me and listened when I was incredibly homesick instead of going for a swim. The Crusader Leader who invited me to tea every Sunday afternoon. These are the folk who I recall (and there have been many others on my faith journey since) who in their Pastoral Care showed me something of a God who cared so much for me and who laid down his life for me that I could do no more then respond. And so although it was never offered in such a way Pastoral Care became for me a converting ordinance. So it is to this that I finally turn.

INTENTION

For what is the purpose of the Pastoral Care we offer as a church? Perhaps it is hospitality and welcome? Then if so it needs to be thought through. What are the real needs of the community we serve rather than what we imagine them to be? And what kind of welcome is it when we hire our premises to community groups or organisations but have no meaningful contact with them - except to complain when they’ve left a window open or haven’t paid their dues? One of the smaller churches in my District was invited to hold their Christmas Day service in a Residential Home across the road. Afterwards some of the members reflected that although they had never been asked by anyone who was wheelchair bound if they could come to worship, the pews would clearly be a huge problem anyway. So for that reason alone they removed them and rearranged the church and although it looks a bit empty at the moment because they can only afford to buy one chair per week they are getting there - and so incidentally are a number of residents from across the road and others who have said “that’s the kind of church I want to belong to”.

Or perhaps the intention is to build a bridge between the church and the community? Well it can be done in small as well as great ways. Across the road from where I live is a large and somewhat forbidding Anglican church where until recently not only the door of the church was locked but the gate to the door of the church was locked as well! But the new vicar had other ideas and decided to open the building each day much to the consternation of some of the congregation! Within a few days a young lady who was seeking some rest and quiet in her busy life, an older lady hoping she might find someone to talk to about her desperate situation and a Muslim who couldn’t get to the Mosque came to pray in the church instead. And when the Vicar wasn’t there - which was usually the case - he was amazed at how many candles had been lit and how many requests for prayer had been made. And yet as a general rule we keep our buildings resolutely locked and our fire-extinguishers at the ready and thus fail to make the two ends of the bridge connect.

Or perhaps unashamedly our Pastoral Care has the desired outcome of making disciples. Then we should persevere! For it is sometimes supposed that mission in this narrow sense and pastoral care are mutually exclusive. Not so. For as Anne Morisy helpfully comments: “Mission as experienced (for example) through fresh expressions and Mission Shaped Church is inclined to major on the message of good news, of reassurance that our persistent futility and inability to do good is not the final word because Jesus has made us right with God. But there is also the pastoral task of “saving us from ourselves” that is helping people to explore how to live when informed by the pointers that Jesus gives from his life and teaching. When people are bothered and bewildered mission and pastoral care need to be closely interwoven because when they work together it becomes possible not just to proclaim hope but to enact hope.

Furthermore as Martyn Atkins reminds us in his book on Discipleship our Methodist theology is rooted in the understanding that “You can’t do it on your own”. He quotes Wesley: “A Methodist Society is a company of men and women united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work our their salvation” and he comments: “Whatever being a disciple of Jesus means for Methodists it includes other people to whom we belong”.

Another of the smaller churches in my District had been distributing invitation cards for their Christmas services for years. They had had no response and were on the point of giving up but last year was different. For a lady came to the church who had never been before. She told me she had received these invitations year by year and she was really grateful but had only plucked up courage to come because her friend said she would come with her. She spoke of how she had been in Newcastle and a member of the Healing on The Streets team - seeing her looking troubled - asked if she could pray for her and did. “She told me that God loved me very much - I’d never heard that before”. And then at the Carol service where evangelistic booklets were available for anyone to take based around the film “It’s a wonderful life” guess what her favourite film was! She didn’t take a booklet - she read it in the foyer there and then and has been coming to worship from time to time since. Perseverance - Risk taking - Ways in for people to Church and to Faith.

It is to do with intention. Someone once said I would make a great Superintendent because I was super at intending to do things but never quite got round to it! I know churches like that too! What’s your intention and where is its fulfilment?

So during this coming year I invite the people called Methodists to reflect and to act if we have become unbalanced by our neglect of Pastoral Care. Unbalanced in our welcome at the front door of the church and in our watching at the back door. Unbalanced in not seeing the potential for every conversation, visit, email, phone call and letter to be a pastoral and grace-filled moment that builds up and does not destroy. Unbalanced in supposing that worship or mission can operate in watertight compartments and that pastoral care is just an add-on for those who like or need that kind of thing. And unbalanced if all this seems like just another demand for over-worked people rather than as a response to grace and at the very heart of what it means to be disciples of Jesus.

In his first letter Peter very simply reminds us: “God cares for you” and in generous response to such a God as this we are commissioned with the same message and the same task.

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2 July 2011

Inaugural address of the Methodist Vice-President

Addressing the annual Methodist Conference, Vice-President Ruth Pickles encouraged the Church to embark on a journey of risk-taking and vulnerability.

As a former district training and development officer, and currently a freelance trainer, Ruth chose ‘Learning as Disciples of Jesus,’ as the theme of her vice-presidential year.

“Venturing through an open door can enrich us but also can make us vulnerable. It involves risk,” She said. “We perpetuate systems that patently have flaws without asking ‘Why are we doing it this way?’ And if we do ask, all too often the answer is, whether explicit or implicit, ‘because we always have’. But because we are Gods church, our reflection and analysing has to be not only about how can we do things more effectively but ‘is what we are doing being faithful to the risk-taking, vulnerable God revealed in Jesus?'"

At its best, she said; “the Methodist Church has been at the forefront of helping ordinary people to develop into extra-ordinary people. Miners, fishermen, shop assistants, housewives… learnt how to read, to speak in public, to get engaged in community affairs, trades unions, politics.... all through membership of the chapel and their class meetings. Knowing God’s love, they felt valued as individuals; their learning needs were recognised and addressed.”

Ms Pickles concluded her address by asking those present what the future might hold for them and the Church: “I have my filled-in diary for the coming year, but don’t really know what lies ahead. It looks immense, exciting, daunting. How about you? Where do you find yourself on your journey? Will you too look with hope to the future? What exciting, but risky and costly, opportunities lie ahead for us as a discipleship movement?”

The full text of the address follows:

I have loved Conference since attending for the first time in 1986, and subsequently on perhaps twenty occasions. But when I walked in to the hall in Portsmouth last year, it was with a sense of weariness, and I said to Peter, my Chair of District, I think this will be my last year at Conference – I’ve had enough!

There was then the customary exchange of greetings between those of us who belonged to the ‘best Vice-President Conference never had’ club: “are you standing again this year?” “No, are you?” “No, I’ve put all that behind me”.

Then there was a long conversation with a Conference friend who persisted with the idea that I should allow my name to go forward again. He felt that I had gifts to offer that the Church could use at this time. He sowed the seed of a question in my mind. Was this the right time? Or was this madness? The next morning, words in the Conference Worship seemed to nudge me and I had to pay serious attention. I had tea and conversation with a couple who know me well. What do you think it is I have to give, I asked? “You have the ability to challenge and ask the right questions; a clear mind, wide experience of Methodism and an understanding of people’s gifts and needs”. Prayerful consideration led me to the point where I felt that God was calling me (as God so often does) through the voices of others. So it came to pass that on the Sunday evening I found myself composing 100 words for the nomination sheet whilst saying to myself “I can’t believe I’m doing this”!

Little did I realise how much ‘this’ was to change the course of my life. When the voting had closed and the computer programme had done its work, the General Secretary rang me to offer me the position of Vice-President Designate. I was stunned. “The only person you can tell before it is formally announced is your husband” he said. “Will he be pleased?”

“He doesn’t even know my name has gone forward!” I replied.

So I rang him. “How’s your day been?” “Not bad”, he said, “how’s Conference been today”. “Well, I said, I think you should sit down. I need to tell you that I decided to put my name forward for Vice-President again…….. and I got the most votes!”.

David laughed - rather, I felt along the lines of “Sarah laughed” when the three visitors to the tent at Mamre told Abraham that his aged wife would bear him a child. And in a way, these past 12 months have been a gestation period, during which the awesome responsibilities of the post have become more evident, and many preparations have had to be made. The birthing day has been approached with a mixture of excitement and dread. I think that’s where we’ll end that metaphor!

Because the preparation year is almost as busy as the year itself, we decided the first thing we needed to do was to remove our house from the property market. Only one couple had shown any interest and they themselves had a house to sell which had a very limited market – it was a converted Methodist chapel! I felt I just couldn’t cope with clearing out years of hoarded paperwork, memorabilia and junk, never mind the actual business of moving. Then, at the end of January, a voice on the other end of the phone asked “Is your house still for sale? I’ve sold mine and the buyer has nothing to sell!”

Well, that was a shock. We felt, after a brief period of reflection, that we had to say yes. We had a much loved but hard-to-sell house, and someone had offered to buy it. So we said yes and by the end of the week we had made an offer on a house for ourselves.

And so the sorting began. I cannot bear to throw paperwork away without reading it to check ‘whether or not it might come in useful’. Or indeed, whether it contains sensitive information. But why on earth did I keep the agenda and minutes of seemingly every Methodist committee I ever attended, going back to university days? I managed to give them only a cursory glance before tearing them up. However, I couldn’t resist spending an evening reading my teenage diaries and my school reports. Here’s what my Religious Instruction teacher wrote in my Lower Sixth year report:

‘Ruth takes an intelligent interest but could say more in class discussions!’

Ever one to do as I am told, I did my best to say more, evidently to some effect for my next report had the comment:

‘Interested and becoming a little more forthcoming in discussion.’

I took that to be a ‘must try harder’ and have been working at it ever since, as many will testify. Though I don’t think I will ever come up to the standard of verbal fluency that my dear predecessor Eunice has set!

I started working on ‘what to say on July 2^nd’about 9 months ago. After conversations with Leo, a most gracious colleague, and with some handy hints from my predecessor, three things became apparent.

1. As a former District Training and Development Officer, and currently a free-lance trainer, my theme for the year should focus on ‘learning as disciples of Jesus’,
2. I needed to prepare a set of postcards to distribute which would enable people to reflect on their journey of discipleship. I shall be using the images in my address and the postcards will be available at the close of session for those who would like to take and use them to reflect on their own journey.
3. George Herbert’s poem ‘the Elixir’ had to play a part. We sang it as a hymn a few minutes ago; let me remind you of verse two:

A man that looks on glass

On it may stay his eye;

Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass,

And then the heavens espy.

This particular poem has really taken hold of me this year. I remember singing it in school assemblies, in the School hall which had huge windows. The glass was hard to clean, and so easy to focus on. But it was clear enough to see through to the sky. I was intrigued by the second verse of the hymn; it’s shown here set as a beautiful design in a window at St Nicholas Parish church, Newport, Shropshire, photographed by a friend, Caroline Worth. The words are slightly different to how they appear in Hymns and Psalms 803, and will appear in Singing the Faith rephrased in inclusive language. Whichever the version, this verse speaks to me of the choice between reality and possibility; and also the choice between constraint and freedom.

And so, for my first of my set of four postcards, there has to be a window. One on which it is easy to focus and yet can be seen through. Where to find such a window? Perhaps at the very special Tudor Manor House, Little Moreton Hall, just three miles down the road from my home. This window, photographed by friend Doug Gibbons, is contemporary with Herbert. It is composed of glass that was originally colourless, but pigments in the glass have caused the development of these beautiful shades of green and yellow. And yet the sky can still be seen through them. The window is a metaphor for the possibility of starting a journey – glimpses may be caught of what could be, though we are restrained inside and therefore limited.

A journey implies that things will be different as we travel from what they are now; as true for our discipleship journey as any other. Come with me now as I share a little of my own journey, and some significant people who have acted as guides. You may have read a little of this in the Methodist Recorder, but nevertheless I invite you now to journey with me and perhaps in places there will be some resonance with your own journey.

I was born to George and Ethel Raine, who had grown up in the chapel culture of the West Riding of Yorkshire before taking the brave step of moving in 1938 to London where my father took a post as a hospital pharmacist. My brother and I grew up in a home where Bible stories, hymns, and prayers were woven into the fabric of everyday life, and with parents who had a lively faith.

As my father was promoted, so we moved around the country until we settled in North Harrow for my teenage years. How fortunate I was, for those most influential years, to be part of a 100 strong youth group, whose activities included social activities and faith learning. A strong youth committee was an integral part of the planning. We were encouraged to make a personal commitment to Christ and take up the full responsibilities of membership of the Methodist Church. Thank you, Dennis Wilcox and team. You nurtured a learning community that was both valuing and challenging. Through you, I was enabled to catch glimpses of the risks and opportunities of Christian discipleship and without you my journey might have been very different.

I was also blessed in that, unlike some of my friends, I had parents who believed that girls had as much right as boys to progress to higher education; thank you, George and Ethel, mum and dad, for valuing me as an individual, and recognising and addressing my learning needs. So it was I took a place at the University of Sheffield for a general science degree. This is where my I need my second post card, for it was in Sheffield that I truly felt a door opening to the next stage of my journey. I love the door pictured here, photographed by my husband David earlier this year when we had a relaxing week on the island of Lanzarotte.

In my first week in Sheffield I was ‘found’ by the Methodist Chaplain and introduced to the Methodist Society (Meth Soc.) which met at Broomhill Methodist Church. Here was another peer group more than 100 strong, and one that was to take me on from where North Harrow had left off. Here it was natural to do things differently. Here we had our experience acknowledged and were enabled to reflect critically on it. The new Chaplain who arrived in my second year, Revd. John Farley, opened a door into biblical scholarship and gave us an understanding of the Bible which was informed and enlightening. His teaching and preaching took the Bible, us and our context seriously. Some of his sermons were printed as pamphlets, but it was not until after his death in 2006 that a compilation was published under the title TSEDEQH & other sermons. To quote from a more illustrious student of John’s, Revd. Dr. Colin Morris, ‘John recognised that his hearers had minds to be stimulated and hearts to be warmed’. If only all preachers could meet both needs! Thank you John, for God worked through you to encourage me and countless numbers of students in a faith journey that cherished the biblical principles of justice and righteousness. Tsedeqh.

This was also a time of intense ecumenical activity, and we were able to work and share worship with the other Christian groups, including Roman Catholics. (Though we weren’t as ecumenical when it came to the annual entry for the Rag float – Meth Soc had a strong reputation to maintain on that front.) I owe a debt too, to many of other denominations and some of other faiths. The Spirit of God does is not limited by boundaries in the same way that we are, for which I am thankful.

Venturing through an open door can enrich us but also can make us vulnerable. If it is a door we have not encountered before, then we cannot be sure of what will be on the other side. It involves risk. Jesus tells his disciples that very clearly, but says ‘Come, follow me’. This it takes us on to the path, my third card. How difficult it was to choose the right photograph. This one is by my colleague Peter Barber.

The path (well, a series of A roads) took me from Sheffield to Congleton in Cheshire. The shock of moving away from University to a local Methodist Church was a difficult one to handle for many Meth Soc members, and some just could not adjust. We had been used to ‘running our own show’ in a culture of critical questioning, experimental worship, and Meth Soc groups that nurtured individual members, fostered close sharing and constantly aimed to take faith and society seriously. We moved away when we left to churches where these concepts were less, or not at all developed, and it was very difficult. I was fortunate in that Trinity Methodist Church in Congleton was a newly opened church of 300 plus, formed from three local congregations plus a number of incomers working in the electronics or textile industries, and ready to consider new ways of doing things. I soon found a niche in working with young people in a variety of ways, finally co-leading Sunday night youth fellowship (SNYF as it was fondly known) for twenty years. Thus I was able to take responsibility for my own learning alongside those young people with whom I was privileged to journey, as they grappled with issues of faith in contemporary society. Eventually I heard the call to preach. Another learning journey began.

Paths opened up in different directions, and I want to pay tribute to one more person. Revd B Arthur Shaw who was Chairman of the Chester and Stoke-on-Trent District. He encouraged me to get involved in District Committees, so long as we addressed him as ‘Sir’– and in the late seventies recommended me as our district’s representative on the Connexional General Purposes Committee. Who ….. me? Yet, because Arthur valued me I was able to value myself, and so began a hugely enriching involvement in matters connexional. This was not simply about administration and organisation, but gave me the opportunity to be fed in worship by people who were very gifted and introduced me into forms of spirituality I had never encountered before, and came to value greatly.

Whilst working as a lay Pastoral Assistant in the Sandbach and Alsager Circuit, I was privileged to attend a course at the Urban Theology Unit, under the direction of Revd John Vincent. I was introduced to reading Mark’s gospel in ways that emphasised the immediacy and urgency of the gospel stories, and the importance of following Jesus on ‘the path’ ‘the road’ ‘the way’ (the same Greek word that Mark uses can be interpreted in all three ways). We were encouraged to get right into Bible incidents or Jesus’ parables by means of members of the group each becoming one of the characters, and challenging the others about their part in the story. I’ve used this method with numerous groups in churches and found it to be a means of bringing afresh the gospel narrative to those who may have listened to it countless times, but never really heard the message. Another way is to read through the whole of Mark’s gospel in one sitting in a small group; it is such a powerful way to tell, or hear, the stories of Jesus.

It was also at UTU that I was first introduced to Personality Type Theory, which has continued to intrigue me. Later, I trained as a Myers-Briggs practitioner at Emmaus House in Bristol, and as I identified my preferred type I began to understand why some people find me so difficult! This has been a wonderful learning journey: co-leading Myers-Briggs workshops with my colleague Charles Worth, we have marvelled at the way in people’s growth in self-understanding has enabled them to value their own and other people’s gifts; given them a means of enhancing team working and a tool to help with conflict management. All of which contribute to their effectiveness as co-workers for the kingdom. I could go on…. but I think you can see that I am a paid up member of the Myers - Briggs fan club.

An opportunity that was completely different but equally fulfilling, was that of going as enabler with the Methodist Youth Exchange Team to Kenya. How blessed l I was that was able to live in the homes of local Methodists, visit countless church groups and projects, and experience the riches of Kenyan spirituality with its emphasis on living thankfully; spontaneous singing in harmony, and exuberant dance. I learnt so much about God’s grace from my Kenyan sisters and brothers in Christ, and continue to do so.

One formal learning opportunity along my journey, was the post graduate/MA course in Consultancy, Mission and Ministry, then based at Cliff College but now at York St. John’s University. Based on the work at AVEC of George Lovell and Catherine Widdecombe, the principles that this course propounds must undergird anything we try to do in the church. Collaborative and consultative ministry that takes reflective practice seriously and is based on sound missiological, theological and organisation principles must be the way forward. The church is not a business, but it is an organisation, and must not be afraid to learn insights from organisation studies. This becomes even more important if we want to truly become a discipleship movement shaped for mission. All Christian ministers, lay or ordained, need to be helped to understand how well informed, reflective practice, is the best way to work together.

Maybe this is the point at which I should introduce you to my dining room table!

Not for a meal, I’m afraid, but as an example that I often used when introducing a model called the learning cycle, attributed to David Kolb.

My everyday experience is a dining room table loaded with books and papers, each pile with a different purpose. That pile is next Sunday’s service prep, this one here is getting invitations ready for messy church, while the others constitute the reading for or aftermath of various meetings or training sessions. A good place to start in the learning cycle is with a concrete experience, reality. My cluttered up table.

I reflect on this: it’s not a really a convenient place to work, because I have to clear it every week when the family comes to dinner. It really is annoying to have to clear things away, often hastily at the last minute, so that I can’t find what I want when I need it because I can’t remember where I’ve put it.

So, I analyse what could be done: what are the options?

One: I could work somewhere else. David politely suggests my study; I’m not convinced that’s the best place.

Two: I could clear away each pile of books and papers each time I leave that piece of work. Well, I could…. maybe. But that’s so time-consuming.

Three: I could concentrate on one piece of work at a time, until it’s finished, and then file it away. Does anyone work like that?

But I have to choose. I can carry on with a system with its obvious disadvantage of a blitz every week, or I can do away with it by adopting a different working practice.

I make a decision for putting things away at the end of each day – and put my theory into practice.

So then have a new experience to reflect on – are things better this way?… and so on.

Now for the moment of truth: I was able to use that as a live example for many years. It has taken as drastic and costly a step as moving house to put an end to it. I now have a massive study and an empty dining room table!

Reflective practice is not what we seem to be good at in the church, for we perpetuate systems that patently have flaws without asking ‘why are we doing it this way’. And if we do ask, all too often the answer is, whether explicit or implicit, ‘because we always have’. But because we are Gods church, our reflection and analysing has to be not only about ‘how can we do things more effectively’ but ‘is what we are doing being faithful to the risk-taking, vulnerable God revealed in Jesus?

Let me give you an example of a local church that was prepared to take a risk. Six years ago David and I felt God was calling us to work at a church five miles away, Biddulph Methodist Church. A few years previously, the members had become discouraged, disheartened, and seriously dwindling in number. They could see no clear path ahead of them. Then God worked through the stationing process to send them a minister who opened up a window, then a door for them. He helped them to see that they had the only church building in the centre of town, and there was little else in the way of community rooms. Here was a wonderful opportunity to become ‘the church at the centre’. They worked hard and raised money to build a community centre adjoining the worship area, and became a centre of hospitality for the town. Worship was revitalised. New initiatives evolved. Messy church has been a blessing for those who come and those who run it. A Fair Trade policy was adopted. What a journey, still of course in progress. But God is good.

I have deliberately payed tribute to only five people who have encouraged me on my journey as a Christian disciple – George, Ethel, Dennis, John and Arthur -, for they are ones representing others who are now part of the ‘company of heaven’. Many other guides and companions to whom I am indebted are in this hall, or will hear this address at home, or read it in the Methodist Recorder – you know who you are - and I thank you for helping me to experience what I have, and to become the person I have become, though far from finished. You have taken seriously, long before it was published, the principles of a report that came to the Conference exactly 10 years ago: Connexional Training Strategies, of which, section one had the hugely significant heading ‘Learning and developing as the whole people of God’.

It began by saying: The Church expects that each one of us, young and old, will grow and develop in our Christian discipleship. This happens when we feel valued as individuals, our learning needs are addressed; our experience is acknowledged and we are enabled to reflect critically on it; we have the opportunity to learn from each other; we are asked to question our current assumptions and practice; we are expected to take responsibility for our own learning; we are able to use our existing gifts and talents.

It added: The Church is committed to providing an ethos and opportunities which enable the above to happen.

Of course, this is what the Methodist Church, at its best, has been doing since its inception. It has been at the forefront of helping ordinary people to develop into extra-ordinary people. Miners, fishermen, shop assistants, housewives… learnt how to read, to speak in public, to get engaged in community affairs’, trades unions, politics.... all through membership of the chapel and their class meetings. Knowing God’s love, they felt valued as individuals; their learning needs were recognised and addressed, and so on through the principles.

And although the report was written very much with formal training programmes in mind, it was also intended to cultivate an ethos of continuing learning and developing as disciples of Jesus who sought to play their part in God’s mission.

I come now to my fourth and final postcard. This photo, taken by my daughter Joanna, shows one of her daughters at the seashore.

This picture does not show the end of the path, but a whole new beginning.

A toddler with the whole world ahead of her, a vast horizon. Who knows what lies ahead?

“Behold, I show you a new thing”, says the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah. “Do you not perceive it”?

I think that is how I feel right now. I have my filled-in diary for the coming year, but don’t really know what lies ahead. It looks immense, exciting, daunting.

But my granddaughter feels secure because her mummy and daddy are right close by, and I am comforted and supported by the love and prayers of so many people surrounding me like a great cloud of witnesses. And Jesus' promise: “I will be with you always, to the ends of the age”.

How about you? Where do you find yourself on your journey?

Will you too look with hope to the future?

And what about us, corporately, the people called Methodist?

What exciting, but risky and costly, opportunities lie ahead for us as a discipleship movement?

We shall consider this more as Conference progresses. We as a church shall be challenged to look outside, go through the door, take to the path of risky and costly discipleship, leaving behind that which is familiar and secure, for the sake of the gospel.

And we shall tale courage from the words of John Wesley, co-founder of the movement that came to be known as Methodism – “the best of all is, God is with us”. Words spoken shortly before dying and being raised to new life. Amen.

______________________________________

4 July 2011

General Secretary challenges Church to take tough decisions for growth

• ‘Too many church buildings,’ says Revd Dr Martyn Atkins

Setting out a positive vision for the future, Revd Dr Martyn Atkins spoke of tough decisions ahead and his belief that the Church must change to fulfil its calling in contemporary society.

General Secretary Dr Atkins spoke of his hopes for the life, work, worship and mission of the Church in a report to the annual Methodist Conference, taking place this week in Southport.

“As disciples of Jesus we are called to become the Church God wants us to be,” said Dr Atkins. “This will involve making some tough decisions. We don’t have all the resources we would like to have but God has not given up on us. We must work hard to become a Church that demonstrates our faith through a commitment to justice and serving our local, national and international communities.”

The wide-ranging report, entitled ‘Contemporary Methodism: A discipleship movement shaped for mission’ addresses issues from church buildings to evangelism and the nature of local ministry.

On property, Dr Atkins said: “We unquestionably have too many church buildings: too many in the wrong places, too many unfit to sustain our life as a discipleship movement shaped for mission today. We too readily associate the sustaining of the life of our chapels with the work of God’s kingdom – these often overlap but they’re not the same thing. A more sacrificial, strategic approach is needed. Our churches must not exist simply to perpetuate the status quo, but to provide a place where people can come to faith and be nurtured in their journey with Christ.”

The full report is available online here .

The report was warmly received by the Conference, which commended it to the whole Church for study, response and action. Working groups will now address some of the issues raised in the report, to bring concrete recommendations to a future meeting of the Methodist Conference.