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Park
Avenue Methodist Church, Park Avenue North, Northampton, NN3 2HT
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01604 720624
Administrator - Alan Brett ::
Senior Stewards - Denise Turner, Liz Hale
office@parkavenue.org.uk | webmaster@parkavenue.org.uk |
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Vision or Heresy?
01 Mar 2010 by Phil Taylor
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 Dear Friends,
Vision or Heresy?
That was the question that Glayne posed in the final paragraph of her letter last month.
Have you decided your response yet?
I ask that question because about an hour and half ago we sat down as a family to eat our dinner together and as we did so it became very clear that it had produced a response in Jon, our son. They had been discussing the questions that Glayne had raised in Junior Church the day before and it had clearly provoked a thoughtful response that he had been thinking about since then.
He engaged me in conversation about it almost as soon as he got home from College and it continued as we sat down to eat and for the next half hour or so. At the end of it I knew that what I had to write in this letter had been altered and Jon has agreed that I share some of his thoughts with you...
His verdict? Definitely Vision, though probably a little limited! (I’ll explain the limited bit later).
But let’s start with his genuine excitement about the possibility of the Methodist Church in Northampton meeting together in one central, modern, purpose built building. To begin with the idea of more people of his own age (he’s heading towards 17) or indeed of any age meeting together for worship and getting to know one another was immediately attractive. He posed the question, how can you expect to either attract or keep within the Church, people say aged 20, if when they go there are no other people around their age who they can relate to? Now he understands that people can relate across the generations and he has had plenty of experience of that happening at Towcester Road but he recognises the strength that comes from people meeting together in larger numbers.
Then he was talking about the need to have a Methodist church that was sustainable into the future. He thought that those who had belonged to the different churches all their lives would want that. To give to generations to come the possibility of being part of a church with a future, a church that wasn’t slowly dying out. It is what we would all want, isn’t it? He was actually very generous in his analysis of the future – he thought if nothing were done the Methodist Church in Northampton would die out in 3 or 4 generations. I don’t think that I am that optimistic.
He was also excited by the possibility of different styles of worship taking place at the same time that would give people an opportunity to worship in the way that helped them. He was thinking at least 3 styles of worship – so the Park Avenue model plus - its part of that bigger vision thing! He was aware that many people who come to church do so by car and so there shouldn’t be a problem with people getting to a new central location. But for those who are used to walking he recognised there would be a need to provide transport to get them to a new place. “There shouldn’t be a problem paying for that if we are not spending lots of money on keeping all these buildings going!” As to the question will people be happy to go somewhere new to worship, his response: “If people are serious about their faith and worshipping God that won’t bother them – if they are not they will make up their own mind what they will do”. I guess he’s right and he challenges us all to consider our response to what we would do if the building we are used to worshipping in is no longer there.
I have already mentioned that Jon attends Towcester Road, where he has worshipped regularly for the last seven years or so. One of the reasons that he chose Towcester Road was because of the number of other young people around his age but it has also been a place we has found a sense of welcome and belonging. The building and the people there are special to him and have played an important part in his life. I therefore think that it is significant that he is saying that he is ready to see that church building close in order to have a bigger vision of what the Methodist Church can be in Northampton. So, you see Glayne, just suggesting bringing three churches together in the centre of Northampton is too limited a vision, for someone like Jon. He can see the value of the village churches maintaining their life and presence in their local communities but why all these Methodist churches in Northampton itself?
So for my son, definitely Vision not heresy and one that calls us to make a response. Had we not had the conversation at dinner time the letter I would have written would have almost certainly been more nuanced and less direct and would have been the worse for that. The great thing about teenagers however is that they are often more direct in their thinking and their responses to situations and they can ask us questions that perhaps we would rather not hear and face up to. So Jon has made his response to Glayne’s letter, he has posed the questions and I, and I hope you, will want to take them seriously. I also know, given that Critical Thinking is one of the A Levels he is studying, that he will quickly see through any answers and responses that are not properly thought through. So you and I have been warned!
As someone for whom the call to ministry part came through a colleague at work asking me the direct question “Phil, when are you going to become a Methodist minister, because I think you ought to?” I have always recognised that God can speak to us through the voice of others so possibly, just possibly the Word of God was being spoken at the dinner table this evening challenging us to a new and very different future for the Methodist Church in Northampton. It is certainly a possibility that I cannot avoid considering.
God bless,
Phil Taylor |
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The Future of the Methodist Church
01 Feb 2010 by Rev Glayne Worgan
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 Dear Friends,
Before you start to read this newsletter, can I ask you to find a pen or pencil because I want you to do your very own mini survey. Look at the following statements about your expectations of church life and tick the ones you agree with.
Your church should provide Sunday morning worship that suits your needs / the needs of non-churched people.
Your church should provide worship at other times that suits your needs / the needs of non-churched people.
Your church should provide comprehensive pastoral care for all its members and adherents.
Your church should provide pastoral care for those who need it most, when they need it.
Your church should be a gathering point for people to come to pray, as well as organising prayer chains etc.
Your church should provide opportunities for Christian education and discipleship training for all ages.
Your church should be running Christian activities for children and young people.
Your church should help those in need – locally, nationally and globally - by raising awareness of issues, offering practical help, money and time.
Your church should reach out to those who do not know Jesus and share his salvation with them.
Of the statements that you have ticked, how many are you able to support yourself or to be involved in? The recently distributed discussion paper, ‘the Business of Church’ (please ask your church stewards for a copy if you haven’t seen it yet) suggests that only 20% of church members actively support the work of the church. The other 80% are happy to come along on Sundays, maybe once or twice a month, but do not get involved with any other activities. Perhaps that is because their needs are met by Sunday worship alone.
This leaves 20% to do most of the work, and fund most of the running costs of the church. My concern is that the 20% are becoming increasingly worn out! I go to Church Councils and hear of huge maintenance bills and the difficulty of finding people to take up important roles within the church. As a Circuit, we want to budget to employ people for the next 5 years to do youth and outreach. We have some wonderful visionary ideals, but can we do all this, and still run so many large prestigious buildings?
I often say, in regard to financial discussions, well, basically, I am just a housewife! I am the one who has to manage the bills at home, and make sure there is money to pay them. Other single parents like me, with children flown the nest, living on one salary, have ‘downsized’ from modest family homes to very small 2 bed terraces, because they are fed up of struggling and worrying about roof repairs or gas bills. ‘Living within your means’ has meant a dramatic change of lifestyle which they were not expecting to make until they retired. Some of you have made similar decisions as you retired or family circumstances changed.
Is it time for the churches to downsize? To look at what we want to do as a church (see the list at the top of this letter) and then work out how much building we need in order to fulfil these aims. I have always been slightly bemused that Northampton Circuit still has so many church buildings. The ‘Methodist Cathedrals’ of the town centre are prestigious and beautiful buildings. But they are difficult to heat, far bigger than we need and not very ‘disabled-friendly’. I come from Rugby, which merged 3 (then 4) church congregations to build a purpose-built modern church 25 years ago. Rugby Methodist Church Centre is facing challenges with regard to its mission and leadership, as are many churches today, but at least it has a building that all can use and that is not a drain on their energies and finances.
Is it time to come together to have one building in the town centre for Methodist worship? (One building, one secretary, one treasurer etc.). I am not even suggesting that everyone has to worship together in one congregation. Park Avenue’s practice of 2 congregations alongside each other is a model which has much to commend it - both the traditional worshippers and those wanting a more contemporary style are listened to and have their needs met. Methodism has lost 2 generations of its children over the past 20-30 years. Where are the 20, 30 and 40 year olds in our churches? I believe that Park Avenue’s approach has enabled those in that age range to stay in Methodism, whereas other churches have lost them. One building that is accessible and warm, with a worship area for traditional worship, plus a multi-purpose, multi-media hall for contemporary worship. The 80% whose needs are met by Sunday worship alone will be able to worship as they wish. The other 20% who want to do a whole range of other activities in church and reaching into the community will then be free to do so, because they will be released from the burden of running huge old buildings, or duplicating 3 sets of stewards, secretaries, treasurers etc.
Heresy or a vision for 2020? What do you think? Is anyone even willing to sit down and look at the suggestion to see if it could be possible? If I am wrong, and the church buildings are not a burden that you are unwilling or unable to bear for the next 10 years, you can tell me to be quiet. I won’t mind – I am not responsible for looking after the buildings. But as a minister I am responsible for leaving a Circuit that is sustainable and life-giving to all its members. What kind of church do you want?
Yours in Christ
Glayne |
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What is a covenant?
04 Jan 2010 by Phil Snelson
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 Dear Friends,
God’s grace and peace to you for a happy New Year.
Throughout January many Methodists will be holding what we call the Covenant Service where we renew our devotion to God.
As a minister I tend to lead several Covenant services each year, but far from it becoming too familiar, or dare I say boring, I find it really rewarding to have more time to reflect on the wonderful covenant God invites us to be part of.
So what exactly is a covenant?
Some people think it is like a contract, but that’s not it. What’s the difference? A contract is twosided whereas a covenant is only one-sided.
For example, say someone wants to build a house. They seek a contract with a builder. There is a strength of position on both sides: he wants your money, you need his skills. Each has something with which to negotiate, and when terms are agreed you enter into a contract. Then, if either party breaks the terms of the contract the other is released from the bond. If the builder fails to deliver you a house, then you don’t have to pay; if you don’t give him the money he doesn’t have to give you the house.
A covenant is not a contract; it is made by only one party. It is based on a promise to do something for the other – no negotiations; the person making the covenant decides the terms for both sides and the second party can only choose whether they accept or reject those terms.
Another word for covenant is “testament” and actually a “last will and testament” is a pretty good example of a covenant. The conditions are all laid out by the person making it and on their death, the beneficiaries can only choose whether to accept or reject the terms; the terms can’t be adjusted or renegotiated.
God is a covenant making God. He doesn’t enter into contracts where we negotiate terms with him. We can’t make a deal with God. When you think about it there is nothing we have that He needs, nothing he wants that we can hold him to a deal over.
Perhaps we don’t realise it, but sometimes we can get into a way of thinking and believing where we approach God trying to please him so that He will do what we want. Or the reverse, when things aren’t going well for people I hear them say something like, "I must have upset Him" or "he doesn’t love me" or things like that.
It is very tempting to approach our lives or our prayers in an attitude of "contracting", as if we think we have a position from which to negotiate a bargain with God; as if by our prayers or what we offer of ourselves, God might become obliged to give us what we ask for. "O Lord, if you will just … I will live a better life." But God does not make deals. God cannot be bought and nor can his approval. He doesn’t negotiate terms and He won’t be manipulated which is basically what this kind of approach is.
He just doesn’t work that way!!
God is a covenant making God and He offers a new covenant on his terms to each one of us just as he promised through Jeremiah:
31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Chapter 31: 31 – 34)
To those who will accept his terms, God offers a most wonderful covenant in which he gives us:
Innocence – forgiveness i.e. freedom from guilt, v34 sins remembered no more;
Intimacy - knowledge of the Lord - v34 no need to teach each other, we will already know him;
Inclination - desire to live right, v33 He writes his law on our heart. He changes us from having an inclination to sin, to having an inclination to do right. In other words, a full salvation, giving both forgiveness and holiness;
Internal & Individual, by the Holy Spirit in us.
All this is part of God’s new covenant!
As Christians we tend to major on the wonderful forgiveness that God has given us through Jesus’ death on the cross. What is quite incredible is that there is so much more to God’s covenant:
forgiveness is the innocence part, but he also offers intimacy and inclination to do right.
I think what most of us struggle to come to terms with - if we have even realised it at all - is that God offers to give us holiness as well through the power of his Spirit, the life of his Holy Spirit in us! We too readily settle for being sinners, whom God generously forgives, but actually the terms are that he transforms us in our hearts and minds, our very lives, gradually reforming us into increasingly holy people, more and more Christ-like in character by the power of God at work in us.
Together we renew our covenant each year, our commitment to live fully in God’s grace. Actually it’s a pretty good way to start each day.
Be that as it may, aren’t you glad that our God is a gloriously generous god of covenant and not a contractor calling us to pay what we owe!
Wishing you a blessed and peaceful new year, learning to walk in God’s grace,
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Don't Stop Believin'
16 Dec 2009 by Rev Martin Swan
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We can read In the Gospel of Mark a very interesting story.
And we find there a story in which Jesus invited the disciples to join him on a journey. In fact it was a boat trip.
Nothing too unusual there I guess, because some of those on board that day were seasoned fishermen, and to be invited to join Him on a little boat trip would have held no fear for them. They had travelled this way across the Sea of Galilee many times before. So the journey started out like any other journey. So far nothing too unusual in that. However, on this very familiar stretch of water, they encountered a very bad storm.
So I suppose we have to ask the question, "Did Jesus invite them on that trip knowing that a storm was coming?"
Well I believe the answer to that question is, yes.
In fact, we might even say that it was a part of His plan that day.
This journey, which the disciples were invited to make with the Lord, was all part of God’s bigger plan. And the Lord Jesus was teaching the disciples to actually demonstrate that they believed, what they claimed to believe.
The storms of life are sometimes terrible and so I don't want to make light of what the disciples were experiencing that day, because I'm sure this was a very harsh storm indeed.
Those hardened fishermen on board had seen many storms before on the Sea of Galilee.
So this encounter had to be a very difficult storm and so very different from the norm for the disciples to be so gripped by fear.
According to Mark’s description of that particular day, the waves were breaking over the boat and filling it with water.
The disciples were very afraid, but they didn't have to be.
Earlier, Jesus had made a significant statement they apparently had forgotten about: He told them, "Let us go to the other side."
And when God says, "Let us go to the other side," it means we will get to the other side, no matter what storms may blow up.
He didn't say to them, ‘let’s journey together and it will be smooth sailing all the way’.
He didn't say, ‘just like all your other journeys, this one would be an easy trip too.
But He did say, "Let us go to the other side."
There are times in our life of faith, when we are asked to travel a journey with God into the unfamiliar and the unknown. And like those early disciples we too can be gripped by fear and anxiety. In the confusion of the storm and the uncertainty of the journeys end, we perhaps cease to think logically and we can forget God's Word to us. ‘Let us go to the other side’
That is exactly what happened to the disciples. However, Jesus was on board travelling with them, and He was there to see them through.
And what was true for those disciples that day, is true too for us as disciples of Christ today. We are being asked to travel a journey of faith and new discoveries in our Methodist Circuit. In many ways, there will be so much in our circuit’s life which is familiar and safe to us as we travel. However, there will also be much which will be new and unfamiliar, and who knows maybe even a little stormy. However, whatever we may be experiencing, be it smooth sailing or rough water. The word from Jesus Christ for us remains the same; ‘Fear not for I am with you to the end of the age’
Every Blessing to you all
Reverend Martin Swan |
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