Church Home Southdown Methodist Church is here to :-
Worship:
encourage Christian worship for everyone
Teach:
to help people develop their Christian faith, life and service
Share:
to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone by word and example
June letter
It seems hard to believe that this month I will finally be ordained as a minister at the Methodist Conference in Portsmouth. For me it will mark an important step on a journey that started over seven years ago; when I first admitted that God might be calling me to something strange and scary called ministry. But what does it mean to say that I am going to be ordained?
The Methodist Church believes that all people are called and able to have a direct relationship with God. There is no need for anyone to stand between you and God, because each one of us can experience God through the power of the Holy Spirit and through his son Jesus Christ. This is often called the priesthood of all believers, and it means that everyone in the Methodist Church takes a share in the all the duties and joys of running a church. That is expressed in ‘Our calling’ and covers taking part in worship, learning more about God, care of others, service and telling other people about God.
The Methodist Church also believes that some people are called by God to dedicate their lives to ‘be stewards in the household of God and shepherds of his flock ‘. That language comes directly from the Deed of Union of our Church, which brought the modern Methodist Church into being in 1932. It goes on to say that ministers are no different to anyone else in the church; it is just that this is to be their work.
To be ordained then means to be set aside in order to do God’s work with the blessing of the whole Church community. For that reason ordination always takes place at the annual Conference where representatives from across the whole Church can be witnesses and encourage the newly ordained ministers. I know that for me it will be a very emotional day as my colleagues and I kneel to receive the blessing of the Church on our future work.
You may not expect to end up as a Minister in God’s church; but each one of us is called to be part of God’s ministry in the world. I pray that whatever your age or situation your own journeys of discovering what God has in store for you will be as wonderful and exciting as mine has been.
Every blessing.
Jade
Minister for Southdown
