A Letter to Members and Friends of Zion United Church
THANKSGIVING
I want to
thank you for the trust that you have shown in me that I should remain as part
of the ministry team here. I am truly thankful to have been given this on-going
opportunity to serve.
VISION
After the
church meeting, which discerned it was right for me to remain in ministry here,
I was challenged: to set out more clearly the vision that we have as a church. I
thought a letter of thanks was a good opportunity to do this.
The
elders asked me to remain at Zion using a process from the URC called LMMR
(Local Mission and Ministry Review). This review drew together many ideas and
formed the basis of our AGM statements. I was ‘appraised’ in a parallel
process. The question for the elders and then for the whole church was whether
my gifts and weaknesses still suited our overall priorities. You decided that they
did!
So what
are those priorities?
·
It’s less about what we do, more about who we
are becoming.
o
Our vision shouldn’t
be too churchy, focused only on what we do on Sundays. The primary mission
of Zion United Church, is you (and me) and the lives that we live. It is a
pretty stiff challenge, but we are called to be ‘Beacons:’ ‘Good News People’
who look a little like Jesus to the world around us.
o
One aspect of our vision was to realise that many of us are busy. Rather than doing more, we needed to slow
down, we even wondered whether there were things that we needed to stop doing!
·
To Grow
o
Not necessarily just in numbers, although we do
want to be welcoming and open-hearted
towards others.
o
Our priority is to grow as ‘whole-life’ disciples. We need to be serious about the way we support one another through friendships,
fellowship groups and Inspire bands. We really are all called to be
missionaries wherever God places us. This doesn’t mean always talking ‘Jesus’
at people, but it does mean listening and watching what is happening and asking
God how we can join in with the good that he is bringing. This sounds easy, and
for some it is, they are naturals…for many of us we need support and
encouragement.
·
To Make Connections:
o
Sadly a lot of people are suspicious of church. We
believe God is calling us to form partnerships
and to work with others to overcome these fears.
o
Some examples of this are the marriage course or
the flower festival we will host with Floral Friends of Frampton next year. (Hopefully
we will also give away more flowers to those who are lonely or sick or
bereaved). There are many other partnerships, perhaps God will place a group or
organisation on your heart.
MY ROLE:
My role is
to co-operate with the Holy Spirit and help the above to happen. He reminds me to:
encourage you to live your life well; support you through both joys and trials
and to persuade you that your life is of value to God as you serve him as
Mothers, or Fathers, Grandparents, Friends, colleagues or workers etc. I want to help us become worshippers, and by
this I don’t mean just on Sundays. Rather to become people who look for God’s
wonder everywhere and are learning to enjoy him and serve him always.
YOUR ROLE:
Ultimately we are all called to
faithfulness. This will look different for each of us, but if we are serious
about growing, then some kind of discipline will become part of our lives as we
draw nearer to God. The aim is to see
what God is doing and to try and co-operate with him. Praying and learning from the bible about the
mistakes and joys of those who’ve sought God in the past are two habits which
may help us.
Indeed a heads up for two more
future initiatives. In the New Year I am hoping some of you will join with me
in a journey through the Bible. I will be using the BIBLE PROJECT videos like
those we’ve used recently to guide me through each book. I think they’re brill!
Later in the year I hope we will join with a Circuit wide (that’s Methodist
speak for Bristol!) initiative called HOLY HABITS. These HABITS from Acts
Chapter Two, are as varied as eating together, praying and saying thank you!
Faithfulness for us as a
community means that if God calls us to care for any particular group we should
do it as well as we can. I do not believe, as some suggest, that every member
should be active at Zion in some particular way. God calls and leads us all
differently. However some of the groups that we have felt led to in the past,
particularly our work with young people, could do with some fresh input. Perhaps
we should stop this work if we can’t do it well enough? Or, perhaps God will
stir and call new volunteers?
FRUITFUL MINISTRY
I have
already enjoyed ten years amongst you. I have learnt a lot and I hope have not
hurt too many of you through my mistakes. Some of the newer members at Zion
have spoken recently of the support and love that they have received. I am
really proud of this. People have clearly experienced God as their friend and
their saviour because of the support that you have given. This is wonderful and
I long for this to extend further within our fellowship and way beyond it.
I do love
older people… (frankly at 52 I am clearly already older than most!) I do though
have a heart also for younger generations, many of whom simply haven’t
conceived of God’s love. You have asked me to remain as your Minister. I ask
you to join with me in prayer for this generation and all the other adventures
that God will lead us through.
To God be
all the glory
Stephen
