Light of the World

It was our fortnightly Community Worship at Wesley House this evening. This week the Methodist Lectionary theme is 'Receiving the Light' and so we carved pumpkins and placed tealights in them. It was an activity that all ages could participate in and the creativity of the pumpkins was amazing. Then without the need for a sermon, or even a reflection using words, just by having 8 pumpkins a-glow around the room and the lights off we could reflect on the words of Scripture we had heard:

"...I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life... As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 8:12, & 9:5)

and

"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a

lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

Photos taken by Revd. Dr. Jane Leach

CPD - A gift of God

At this evening's Methodist Theology and Spirituality seminar each student received their copy of 'The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church' - obviously 2011 edition rather than 2010, but I couldn't find a picture of the 2011 edition! This gift was received with about as much enthusiasm as receiving the last decade's worth of Church Council, Property and Finance and Circuit Meeting minutes all neatly collated and bound!

However, our speaker for the evening was Janet Morley - an Anglican who has worked for the Methodist Church for many years. She was bringing her views of Methodism from an Anglican perspective and was very insightful in her observations - even if some were uncomfortable to hear. However, the thing that stuck with me was her enthusiasm for CPD. Janet stated that Methodism was able to articulate it's faith. We have a document that is updated year by year as we discuss areas which may need updating. From this point of view we have a living, evolving faith. We are able to ask the hard questions of ourselves, to discuss, debate, disagree but ultimately to maintain the Connexion between us. She pointed out that the Anglican church still abides by the 39 Articles, which clergy have to swear to at their ordination and as they start at each new post, which apparently is quite anti ecumenism and supports the death penalty. Janet added that in CPD it states that 'The primary purpose for which the District is constituted is to advance the mission of the Church in a region...' (SO 400A) and that 'The Circuit is the primary unit in which Local Churches express and experience their interconnexion in the Body of Christ, for purposes of mission, mutual encouragement and help.' (SO500) How great would it be for all ministers and congregations to see the practical outworkings of our theology in such a way.

The Feast of St Luke - an Orthodox celebration

As part of life in the Cambridge Theological Federation we have fortnightly Federation Worship led by the various institutes that make up the Federation (I realise that was probably a slight over use of the word 'federation'!). This evening was the turn of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies. This was the first time that I had ever been to an Orthodox service, and it certainly was an interesting experience. There were some aspects I found challenging, standing up for an hour and a half being one! However, there was also the lack of involvement by the members of the congregation. This was very much something that we watched as the priest and a few others participated on our behalf. Added to that there was the lack of singing and the fact that only members of the Orthodox Church were able to take Communion. This did help me get clear in my mind some of the things I value about Methodism.

Having said that, there were a lot of things that I found useful and inspiring. The theatre of the whole service as the priest moved around from the altar, down into the nave, around the church built a sense of drama and anticipation. Maybe it didn't reflect the meal between friends that I like to think of as Communion, but it did portray something of the wonder and awe-someness of God. Their repeated prayers for themselves, their church, their community and those in authority was also something that made me think. While I don't believe that we need to repeat our prayers over and over, Paul does tell us to pray without ceasing, and this was a great expression of that. The homily was short and to the point - we are part of an unbroken chain of witnesses going back to Luke and beyond. It was uplifting and done in about a dozen sentences - do we really need to always have great long complicated sermons when a few well chosen words will do? Finally, there was the point where the congregation said the creed. It was a long way through the service and was the first point for the congregation to speak. At first people were unsure, then gradually it built up and up as more people expressed their faith together. The sound of so many people, from so many different denominations and traditions, professing together a shared faith, for me, is a sign of what ecumenism is all about. We may have gone our separate ways after, but we did so having reminded ourselves of the things that unite rather than divide.