In two weeks time I will be at a retreat for Methodist Ministers in Sligo. I am looking forward to Re:Call 2009. Anticipating this event has caused me to reflect on the state of Methodism in Ireland and the relationship I should have with other 'minsters'.
A few years ago I was driving to Junior Ministers' Convention. I thought that it was being held at the Glenada Centre in Newcastle. When I arrived I recognised some people but they weren't Methodists, the were Presbyterians. Someone asked me if I had jumped ship. I was of course in the wrong place. I happened to be where the Presbyterians were have a similar event to JMC.
As I drove down the road to JMC (which was being held in Rosstrevor) I compared what I expected would happen at the two different conferences. I guessed that the Presbyterians would have had a speaker to teach them the Bible. They would sit with notebooks out and listen intently. Yet I reckoned that they would keep a formal distance between each other. On the other hand I anticipated that we Methodists would pray with each other and enjoy a real sense of fellowship but probably not centre on Bible expositions like the Presbyterians did (I should point out that this years JMC in Avoca did centre of Bible teaching which was encouragingly received).
I the best of both those conferences. I want Methodism in Ireland to be a denomination that has a passion and commitment to Biblical truth, that is confident that the Bible is nothing less than the very word of God, that encourages people to 'preach the gospel' and that hungers for exposition of the word. I also want Methodism in Ireland that prays together, that moves beyond formalism in fellowship, that shows a costly care to those who are Christ's and as Christians together shows compassion to those that surround us.
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