Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters
September 2012
Finding direction for the future
During my summer holidays my son and daughter accompanied me on an attempt to climb Scafell Pike. We set off on the day which promised the best weather but which we still knew would present the risk of cloud at the summit. As we feared, the cloud started swirling around us as we approached the 2500 ft level and it got thicker the higher we climbed. At 3000 ft we were in almost completely obscuring cloud making navigating the boulder-strewn landscape very difficult. True, there were cairns marking the way but in places these seemed to head off in all directions or merge into the general landscape. Without a map and compass, or more often these days a satnav, finding the right path would have been fraught with difficulty and potential danger.
For the second year the Methodist Church is focussing on becoming a “discipleship movement shaped for mission” - this is a real return to our roots for this is how Methodism started out! Now, I am no great fan of mission statements but I do believe that, like on a mountains, we need a good idea of where we are trying to get to - a focus for our direction and energies - so we do not get lost and can avoid the pitfalls and distractions of being misguided! So I believe this statement can help us and I will look at aspects of it over the coming months.
So what is a disciple? Well, a disciple is a follower, a learner; I guess you could say a student or pupil in today’s terms. But it is so much more than just acquiring an academic knowledge. While I was on holiday I was reminded at a service at Penrith Methodist Church of a quotation, “Being a disciple is not just learning about Jesus - it’s about becoming like Jesus.” So being a disciple is more like being an apprentice - learning the skills so we can eventually help with and later take over and do the job of the Master. And this process is a life-long one where we continually learn more about being a Christian and are eventually able to take on the role of “teacher” ourselves so as to pass on the knowledge and wisdom we have acquired from experience.
So there are two parts to our discipleship - our own growth and development, which must be life-long - and our concern for others’ growth and development from the sharing of our own experience. While the enthusiasm of so many to attend the Thursday evening fellowship is highly commendable - I sense a real hunger for a deeper understanding of our faith - what about our willingness to share our faith with others? How are new people going to be brought into the church if we cannot help lead them by being prepared to talk about our own faith? How can we be a “discipleship movement shaped for mission” unless we are moving forward?
That will do for now - more next month.