Blog
On Friday evening and over the whole of Saturday about 40 of us will be participating in our Alpha Holy Spirit weekend. We will be spending time in teaching sessions on the subject of the Holy Spirit, but there is also space for worshiping, eating, talking and laughing together.
When last did you meet someone who, when you asked how they were didn't reply 'busy'. Or 'tired'. Or whose eyes didn't say these things while their mouth was saying that they were fine :) That seems to be the world we live in, and often when we are in that state, we desperately reach for a quick-fix - some sort of escape - digital or chemical or something equally fleeting, but they don't really help.
Some really exciting news! You will remember that when we took the decision to sign the lease with Corabrand of some of our upstairs rooms, our thinking was that part of the rental income would help fund an additional staff member to oversee our youth and children's ministries. After much searching and praying, we are delighted to let you know that one of our own, Nhlanhla Mbatha, will be joining our team on a part-time basis from the beginning of November.
So, we looked on ChatGPT and didn't like any of their suggestions; maybe you can help? We're trying to find a name for the little coffee shop on our property - it needs to be friendly, inviting (and not too churchy!). The person who comes up with the winning suggestion will earn themselves a couple of cappuccinos :)
Our services and many of our meetings end with a blessing (or benediction). The words are so familiar that we can find our minds wandering even as we speak them, but this is a powerful thing that we are doing. We are reminding each other that as we part, we do not leave alone - we go in the company and the strength of the risen Christ.
This week in our Alpha course, we heard a testimony from a man who became a Christian while serving a jail sentence in Britain for having committed multiple violent crimes. His life has now been turned around. Since his release, he has devoted himself to reaching out to other men in prison - sharing his life story and the good news of the gospel. He has a stable, loving family and seems to be a completely new person.
A W Tozer once said that the "most important thing about us is what comes into our mind when we think about God". That's quite a claim! Author J B Phillips obviously felt that we were failing in this most important task when he wrote a book in the 1950's called "Your god is too small". Over the next four Sundays we are going to be using some of Phillips' ideas to help us notice where we have settled for a shrunken God - a caricature of the real Person.
It's been a full week for our denomination - three days of Mission Congress, followed by three days of Conference and then the annual ordination service taking place this Sunday. We saw lots of creative energy at the Congress and it'll be exciting to see what concrete decisions Conference makes based on the recommendations from Mission Congress.
Every year in September, the senior leadership of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa gathers for Conference. If you're not familiar with the language, that's another word to add to your Methodist lexicon - Conference (not a conference), but a gathering of leaders at Conference. Yes, it's a bit confusing :)
I'd love to catch you up on some of the good things that are happening with our youth at WMC: 1. We have a new team leading the youth on Sunday mornings. Dani has been meeting with our youth over the last couple of months and Lloyd has recently joined her. Between the two of them, a programme for the whole term has been developed, which means that on any given Sunday during the school term our youth can count on there being something planned for them. Together the group are dreaming up some new ideas (including exploring a Friday evening programme).