June to August 2019 - Somerset Mendip Circuit The Methodist ...
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June to August
2019
Charity Registration No. 1134237
Superintendent Minister: Rever end Tina Swire
Chairman of Bristol District: Reverend Dr Jonathan Pye
President of Conference: Reverend Michaela Youngson
Vice-President of Conference: Bala Gnanapragasam
www.somersetmethodists.org
Also on Facebook
32
Contents
Page
2 Contents
3-4 Pastoral Letter
5 The Somerset Mendip Circuit Mission Statement
6-7 The Bombings in Sri Lanka Empowering quotes from John Wesley
8-9 Rev Canon Gareth Powell’s Visit
What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.
10-11 Wedmore Flower Festival
12-15 Living Lent, Creating a Climate of Change
The best thing of all is God is with us.
16 CLT - Living Lent, Caring for the Earth
17 Methodist Homes (MHA) When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and
18-19 Easter Sunday Morning
prosperous. Now, if that man when he gets all he can and saves all he can,
does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that
20 Circuit Website
man!
21 Circuit Services
22-24 Christian Aid Week, the story of Tenneh I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologi-
25 Lectionary Readings
ans in England.
26-27 Pray Without Ceasing
Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but
28-30 Adverts God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will
31-32 John Wesley Quotes shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in
all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as
long as ever you can.
Thank you for your contributions to this magazine. It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I; I
Please send articles to: The Circuit Administrator at the Circuit Office, love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is
Wells Methodist Church, Southover, Wells BA5 1UG, my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more
email smcwells2019@outlook.com, phone 01749 677106
soul?
by 31st July for the September to December 2019 edition of The Stream.
Please note that The Stream is uploaded to the SMC website. If you do not Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money to feed the hun-
want your article to appear online, please inform the Circuit Administrator gry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and,
when you submit your article. indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you,
2 31
Superintendent Minister
Rev Tina Swire
June 2019
As you know, I am not from here. Somerset has been a whole new
world, one I never thought I would ever see that day as I knelt at the
KEITH C. BRITTON
Incorporating L. Bennett & Son
rail and took my ordination vows in 1992, almost 30 years ago. God is
a very surprising God, for we never really know where our faith journey
will take us.
INDEPENDENT FAMILY FUNERAL DIRECTORS
I wonder is it something about keeping us aware of what is means to
○ 24-hour, personal service be a stranger in a strange land. The Bible takes it as serious business.
○ Home Visits
Jesus is forever eating and listening to the stranger and honors their
humanity in so doing. Whether they be foreigners like Roman
○ Private Chapels of Rest centurions, or people who feel like strangers in their own land, like
people with skin diseases, or Samaritans, Jesus is there living what the
○ Prepaid Funeral Plans
angels say “ Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on all
Keith C.Britton Dip.FD Julian Britton Dip.FD, LMBIFD,MBIE whom God favours.” Since God created the world and declared it to be
Richard Fenn Dip.FD, LMBIFD good, God favours us all. In God’s Way, there are no strangers, only
members of the great human family called to live with respect one with
10 High Street, Yatton, Bristol BS49 4JA,
another and indeed, with creation itself.
9 Queen’s Road, Clevedon BS21 7TH and
156 Old Church Road, Clevedon BS21 7TU TEL 01275875882
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T’was ever thus. In the Old Testament, God calls us to care for our
30
TEL. 01934 832115 strangers in our midst with justice and love, in well over 80 verses.
3
When Jesus said you shall love your neighbor as yourself, he knew
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And so I came here, expecting to be a stranger in your midst. Independent
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And then, as I drove down Newfoundland Circus in Bristol, I
realized otherwise. When I drove through Ottery St. Mary, where
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otherwise. And in the welcome John and I have received here, I Tel: (01934) 742046 / 07704877160
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I know it’s far off from the blessed festival of the Incarnation, but
the Incarnation is everyday. Everyday the angels sing, “ Glory to
God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace among those
whom God favours.” It is our ministry to live those words. There
are strangers in our midst, there are even those who feel like
strangers to themselves and within themselves. Somedays,
maybe that even applies to each of us. But no one is a stranger
to God, for God favours all. This is both deeply humbling and
hugely empowering. This is grace and this is hope.
Let us say Amen to all those verses and teachings. And let us
continue to live the words we say. For we are not alone. God is
with us Thanks be to God. Amen.
By the grace of God, let us go and continue to live the words we
say.
Blessings and Peace
Tine Swire
4 29
ADVERTS
If you would like to place an advertisement in The
Stream, please contact The Circuit Administrator
at the Circuit Office in Wells
for further details
The Somerset Mendip
C V Gower Funeral Directors
The Square, Winscombe, BS25 1BS
Circuit
Mission Statement
U Independent Funeral Directors U Private Chapel of Rest
U 24 hr service, every day of the year
U Traditional, green & non-religious funerals arranged. Our Vision
U All localities covered U Pre-paid Funeral Plans
Please contact Lindsay Lawrence Dip.F.D. Our vision is of a circuit
on 01934 842945 or mail@cvgower.co.uk
where people experience and
share
28 5
21 April 2019 RODE
Ecumenical Prayer Group Meeting on 1st and 3rd Wednesday evening
of the month 7.45 for 8pm
The bombings in Sri Lanka Contact Bill Jackson on 01373 830411 for further details.
The Group becomes a Study Group which meets weekly
during Lent (6 weeks) and Advent (4 weeks)
Michaela and Bala, The President and Vice President of the Methodist
Conference were deeply saddened by the news of the bombings in Sri Lanka. SOMERTON
This is Bala’s country of birth and these atrocities affect us both deeply and Every Tuesday, 10.30 to 11am
seem especially cruel on Easter Day.
STREET
As Christians worldwide rejoice on the day of resurrection, we also mourn for Last Tuesday of the month, 1.30pm
all who have lost their lives in churches and hotels that day. We offer prayers
and send greetings to our sisters and brothers in the Methodist Church, WELLS
Christians and all people of faith and good will in Sri Lanka. Every Wednesday in the church, 11.30am to 12 noon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We call for respect to be accorded to all religions, their worship and their
festivals and we commend the ongoing, respectful work of the congress of If there are any changes, omissions or additions to make to this list,
religions and the NCC. All regions oppose the taking of innocent lives and we please let The Circuit Administrator at the Circuit Office in Wells
affirm the work of local inter faith groups in promoting positive action based know, to include in the next edition of The Stream.
on our shared values.
All opinions expressed in ‘The Stream’
We invite all people of faith to speak out against violence, be it name-calling are those of the author
and stone-throwing as in Anuradhapura or senseless bombing as on Easter Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in Colombo, Colombo and Batticaloa.
Methodists have contributed to the building of a caring, healthy and educated
society in Sri Lanka for over 200 years. It pains us to see attempts to force
Garden Party/Coffee
change through acts of violence against innocent people. We therefor commit Morning
ourselves to continuing support for peace building and reconciliation
whenever and wherever we can. at
Congresbury Methodist Church
A prayer for the people of Sri Lanka, written by Steve Pearce, Partnership Co- on
ordinator for Asia and the Pacific, World Church Relationships of the Saturday 17th August
Methodist Church. 10am onwards
6 27
‘Pray Without Ceasing’
Regular Times For Prayer
Around The Circuit
As part of our ongoing Prayer Pilgrimage, we encourage folk to visit
and support one another in prayer, whenever and wherever…
AXBRIDGE
After worship and coffee on the third Sunday of the month Creator God, who loves peace and concord,
We bring before you the people of Sri Lanka.
BRUTON Just as your Son suffered betrayal and agony on Good Friday,
Third Thursday in the month, 1.45pm They have faced brutality and violence on Easter Day.
May the church and hotel communities who have faced attack,
CONGRESBURY find reassurance and healing;
May the bereaved friends and families, find consolation after
First Wednesday of the month, 10.30am to 12 noon tears,
May those who believe terrorism changes things, discover the
FROME WESLEY power of love and hope.
Every Wednesday, 9.30am in the church, or vestry if cold Loving God, who hates nothing you have made,
We bring before you the divisions we have created,
GLASTONBURY Ethnic, religious, national, class and many more.
May we be hopeful rather than harsh,
Every Tuesday 10.30 to 11am
May we avoid the barbed word in favour of affirming phrases,
Every Friday at 12 noon, silent vigil for peace in the Market Place May we offer smiling eye rather than an uncaring glance.
(Ecumenical) Compassionate God, who brings healing and peace for all,
Look now o the bereaved, the injured and the fearful in Sri
OAKHILL Lanka.
Every Monday, 9 to 10am We pray in the name of Jesus, friend and companion.
Also 9 am Saturday to 9 am Sunday (24 hour drop-in) every 2nd Sunday Amen.
of the month
26 7
LECTIONARY READINGS — Year C
THE VISIT TO
WESLEY CHAPEL 2nd June—9th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29) 30-39 Psalm 96 Galatians 1:1-12
PILTON
9th June— Pentecost
Rev Canon Gareth Powell Psalm 146 Galatians 1:11-24 Luke 7:11-17
16th June—Trinity
1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a Psalm 5:1-8 Galatians 2:15-21
23rd June—12th Sunday in Ordinary Time / Refugee Week
Psalm 42; 43 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39
30th June—13th Sunday in Ordinary Time / Conference Sunday
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 Galatians 5:1, 13-25
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7th July—14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 30 Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16 Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
14th July—15th Sunday in Ordinary Time / Action for Children Sunday
It was last years Easter Sunday that I got involved with finding a preacher Amos 7:7-17 Psalm 82 Colossians 1:1-14
because for some reason there was no one available for us from the cir-
cuit. 21st July—16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 52 Colossians 1:15-28 Luke 10:38-42
I managed to persuade Stuart Burgess, a Methodist ex-conference presi-
dent, who is now running the Ammerdown Centre at Radstock, to take 28th July—17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
the service, so this year I was asked to find another A-Lister for the East- Hosea 1:2-10 Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19) Luke 11:1-13
er Sunday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I phoned Stuart again and he would ask Gareth Powell for me. Fortunate- 4th August—18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
ly, Gareth was available and he said he would be pleased to come.
Hosea 11:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Psalm 107:1-9,43
Gareth in now the General Secretary for the Methodist Conference, which 11th August—19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
is the top job in Methodism—hence the idea that he is on par with the
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Luke 12:32-40
Pope in the Catholic Church!
18th August—20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
He came with his wife and began with some proper Easter Hymns—
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, Halleluiah Sing to Jesus then finishing Isaiah 5:1-7 Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 Luke 12:49-56
with one the greatest Christian anthems—Thine Be the Glory, to the mu- 25th August—21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
sic of George Fredrick Handle! Jeremiah 1:4-10 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17
8 25
forced to send people away. My brother Philip who has taken care of this chapel for the last 65 years,
said of Gareth’s sermon that it was the best he has ever heard in the Pil-
ton Chapel! And, apart from the funeral services, I think is was the big-
When women come to the clinic at night, there’s no light for Judith to use. So gest congregation in the building since Dr.Donald Soper, another Meth-
she has to ask her patients to bring a torch to see by. odist ex-president who came to our chapel centenary in 1949. Lets all
hope that we’ll still be here in 2049!
In addition to this, there are often not enough drugs at the clinic. Judith sees
diseases like malaria and typhoid, especially in children. She has to go on a Submitted by Michael Eavis
motorbike or sometimes walk for three hours to collect drugs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘I need help,’ nurse Judith says. ‘Women are dying from childbirth, children under five
are dying, because of poverty. Please help us.’
WELLS CHURCH
For Tenneh, and many mums like her, a new health centre would be like a dream come
true. Home or Home’s Wanted
We, the chairs our looking for good homes to go too. Can you help us,
‘We’ll dance for three days when we have the new health centre,’ she says.
we want to be put to good use and feel loved and cared for.
With your support today, we could work alongside Judith’s community to build
a bigger, better health centre to help more mums like Tenneh give birth safely.
Christian Aid Week brings Christians together with a common purpose to
achieve something incredible.
A gift of £300 could provide a
delivery bed for a new health
centre giving mums a safe place to
deliver their babies. We need your
support now, more than ever.
If you think you can help, then please contact the
With every envelope, every Big
property coordinator, Liz Rankin either by phone or email.
Brekkie, every click. Every one of
us can help deliver babies safely. 01749 870522 / lizrankin@pretlove.org
24 9
Wedmore Methodist Church New hope
Through out partner RADA (Rehabilitation and Development Agency),
Christian Aid saw how difficult the situation in Sawula village was and began
working to ensure that mums and babies have fullness of life.
RADA has been working locally to help vulnerable women access healthcare,
improve hygiene with simple interventions like handwashing and, with your
support, build a bigger, better health care centre.
Wedmore Methodists are already planning their annual Flower Festival. This
will be the sixth year for this event. Every year a different theme is chosen by
Thankfully, when Tenneh was pregnant a second time, things had changed for
the Mission and Worship team. This year the theme will be “Somerset
good. This time, she had nurse Judith by her side. With her expert love and
Villages”. Last year the festival was very well attended with a theme of
“Countries of the World”. Hazel Hudson researched Methodism in all the care, Judith helped Tenneh deliver her baby safely.
countries represented and a map pinpointing each country was displayed with
interesting information on each one. Every floral participant provided more Tenneh said: "During my second labour, I was scared. But nurse Judith was
information on their chosen country with pictures, points of interest and with me, assuring me of everything. When I delivered I felt so good.”
souvenirs alongside the floral displays. We also had a discovery trail for
children.
“With the coming of Judith, so many lives have changed,” Tenneh continued.
“We know that with Judith, as long as we see the light at the end of the tunnel,
Over the two days refreshments are served all day in the schoolroom and we’ll be OK.”
weather permitting on tables set out on the church lawns. Some visitors stay all
day and others have been known to visit on both days, all enjoying a chat over Thanks to nurse Judith and the medical training you helped provide, Tenneh
their refreshments, starting with coffee and cake in the morning, soup and a
could hold her beautiful baby boy in her arms.
roll for lunch, with more cake! and a cream tea in the afternoon. Tables of arts
and crafts, paintings and produce are of great interest and many gifts and early
Christmas presents can be purchased. A health centre for all
The community in Sawula dream of having a health centre that can meet their
Several friends and other village people very kindly taken part in providing needs. The current health centre is the size of a small bedroom. Operations,
floral displays to bolster our own efforts, this is a great help in producing an
deliveries and baby check ups all happen in one single room with only two
event which seems to get better every year, with visitors paying many
delivery beds.
compliments on the imaginative interpretation of the theme.
Nurse Judith works around the clock to meet the needs of mums and young
Wedmore has a small membership these days but that does not dampen our children who come to the clinic. But the need is great, and sometimes she’s
enthusiasm to continue with our regular and much loved events, we just have
10 23Thank you to all those who raised to work that little bit harder!
money for this cause. If you read the This year’s event will be held on
story below, you know what the money Friday and Saturday 26th & 27th July
is going to support.
from 10am to 5pm and is well worth a visit.
Everyone is assured of a very warm welcome as they enjoy the exhibition of
flowers enhancing our beautiful chapel, and a chance to catch up with old
friends and possibly make some new ones.
Photos from 2018 Flower Festival “Countries of the World”
Tenneh’s story
Tenneh plays with her precious baby
Ansumana. She blows raspberries on his
belly. Lifting her baby up high she beams
with joy. Tenneh gave birth to Ansumana
three months ago. Thankfully, he’s a happy, bouncy baby. But Tenneh has lost
and loved another baby before.
When Tenneh’s labour started during her first pregnancy, there was no health
centre in the village. Her mum took her to a traditional birth attendant. For the
two days of her labour, Tenneh was in agony. She fell unconscious and was
bleeding heavily. With very little medical training, the birth attendant was way
out of her depth.
In the days and months after her labour, Tenneh felt very weak and her baby
wouldn’t breastfeed. Tragically, her baby died when he was tree months old.
“That day I will never forget,” she recalls. “I felt sick like I’ve never been sick
before.
“If God would not have saved me, I would not be alive today.”
22 11CIRCUIT SERVICES
Farewell
To
Julie & Malcolm Letts
Sunday 28th July 2019
Churchill Methodist Church
Tea 5.30pm
Service 6.30pm
Welcome
Meg & Graham Slingo
Friday 30th August 2019
At
Living Lent: What next? Wells Methodist Church
Tea 5.30
Service 6.30pm
Posted on 25 April, 2019Author hannahbrownjpitCategories Blog, Call To Action
We’ve spent the last seven weeks taking action in our personal lives, to respond
to the call for urgent change for the climate. We’ve given up meat, stopped
travelling by car, rid our cupboards of plastic and only bought the essentials. On top
of this, we’ve raised our voices by writing to our MPs, asking for information from
our local councils and bringing a youth voice to the centre of our discussions. We’ve
dug deeper into the way God calls us to be partners in restoring creation.
At Frome Wesley
Most of us have recognised that this isn’t a change we can stop on Easter Sunday. The
Sunday 30th June 2019
call to climate action hasn’t ended – if anything, it’s got louder. For some of us,
the commitments we began as part of Living Lent will now have become long-term 10.30am
lifestyle changes. However, the reality for others is that whilst these challenges will A Live Screen Opening of Conference
have made an impact on our mindset, continuing not buy anything new, for example,
12 21Circuit Website simply isn’t sustainable.
So what next? How do we carry the changes which have begun to restructure our
attitudes into a sustainable life? We’ve put together a few suggestions:
Website: http://www.somersetmethodists.org/
For your information, we have always had a policy never to give out personal
information that is requested by people contacting the website, and many do.
(mail@somersetmethodists.org) If not addressed to an individual, I
acknowledge receipt, then forward the request to the (*starred) steward of the
respective church, or anything delicate goes to the Minister. See
You can now go directly to the Plan, Circuit Calendar and Lectionary without
going through the indexes of the website. Enter into your address bar at the
top, (not Google Search). You can right click your desktop and make a
shortcut if you want to. It seems that for many of us, Living Lent has changed the way we view the world.
Whether focusing on it or not, it has become impossible not to see the excess of
waste, plastic use and pollution which clouds our society. This impacts our decisions,
leads us to be more critical and often drives us to make changes we simply can no
longer avoid. The way we see the world and our relationship with it has changed as a
consequence. Whatever our contexts moving forward, continuing to look and see with
this vision of urgent action is essential
http://bit.ly/circuitcalendar Think
http://bit.ly/circuitpreachingplan
http://bit.ly/Lectionaryreadings
There will be a balance for each of us between the practices we can easily adopt into
If you find this useful for your computer work, go to https://app.bitly.com our lifestyles and those which will be tougher to welcome in. There simply isn’t a
and it's free. unified way of responding to the climate issues we’re faced with. However, a practice
developed for many over Living Lent has been to be more considerate and thorough
Another addition to the website is a 'Breaking News' panel on the title in our decision making. When able, take the time to stop, weigh up the cost and in
page. I can upload this in minutes without loading the website pro- some circumstances be prepared to pay the price to make more ethical choices.
gramme. Useful for emergency appeals, postponed events, etc. So just This won’t always be easy, will rarely have a simple answer and will sometimes
let me know. require a greater amount of our resources for seemingly little reward. But this practice
of consideration is important in building habits which maintain the value of creation,
holding it at the centre of our lifestyle choices.
Barry King
20 13Consequently, on Easter Sunday morning at 5.15am a bunch of hardy
Glastonbury Methodists and other assorted Christians and two dogs assembled
outside the chapel and started to walk up the hill. Now Sandy and I have
Ask walked up the Tor many times but not at 5.30am in the pre sunrise gloom on
an empty stomach, so it was quite slow march interspersed with appropriate
Sometimes, the way our society is structured means it’s really prayers along the way. Once we got to the top, not surprisingly, we were not
hard to step out of some practices. However, there are ways of the only ones there as around 20 or 30 people were already in position.
looking out for more sustainable products in the supermarkets, for example. Ask ques-
tions: about whether you can recycle plastic bags at your local supermar ket;
where you can buy sustainably sourced fish; what the difference shopping at your
As we all turned to look eastwards to wait for the sun, the thought occurred to
local butchers will make; where you can get reusable cotton pads rather than disposa-
ble ones. To start, take a look at the bottom of this blog for some useful links. me that I was witnessing something quite beautiful and unique, even though it
happened every day. As an ex dairy farmer I have seen a few sunrises, but non
quite so spectacular as we were witnessing that Easter morning. It really was
one of the most ethereal moments of my life. The low lying mist over the
levels as the sun rose made it all the more surreal and a silence fell over
Remember everyone as dawn turned into day and Easter morning was truly with us.
One of the joys of Living Lent has been the moments of surprise, in which we have
discovered new opportunities, formed new relationships and embedded new habits We lingered on after the sunrise for more hymns and prayers and the
we didn’t realize we had the capacity to sustain. It is in these moments where we obligatory group photograph before making our way back down for a well
have been encouraged to keep moving forward, and have embedded our hope for deserved breakfast and moving on to the more traditional Easter services. Now
change. As we continue, may we remember the way these moments motivate us to I’m not going to wax lyrical about the religious significance of all this, I’ll
go further, and continue to make space to notice them when they occur. leave all that to Tina, but I really felt quite moved by the morning’s events and
it will be something that will live with me for many years to come.
Back to the bucket list, I know climbing up Glastonbury Tor is not running a
Talk marathon or cycling across the Andes but the fact that the weather gave us the
chance to do this on our first Easter in Somerset was special and also we did it
We’ve recognised through Living Lent that whilst our personal actions are crucial, it with friends we never knew we had 12 months ago, made it really special.
is going to take more than just everyday changes to make real response happen. To
make the progress we urgently need, we have to make a noise. So, remembering all of
the challenging, useful, difficult and hopeful conversations we’ve had as a conse- Any other bucket list suggestion will be greatly received but not necessarily
quence of our lifestyle changes during Lent, let’s continue to talk. Everywhere and acted on!
anywhere, let’s use the relationships we have, and the ones we are yet to form, with
our friends, family, colleagues, bosses, bank managers, ministers and MPs, to get Submitted by John Swire
14 19To start, why not join us at The Time is Now mass lobby of parliament on 26th June?
This is a chance to step up and stand out as we tell our leaders it’s time for change.
When we started Living Lent, we said that changing our climate was ‘not just an
activity, but a lifestyle’. Over the last seven weeks, I think we’ve realised that this
isn’t as simple as we expected it to be. To really respond to this call to action requires
a deep digging, re-structuring, costly way of looking at and changing our lifestyles.
Easter Sunday morning And it requires us to take this further than ourselves, to call on the leaders of our soci-
ety to do the same hard work as we partner together.
Just a few months ago, I reached a significant milestone in my life and like
most people it was an ideal time to reflect and perhaps plan for the future. Up As we go from here, may we continue to know the hope we have at the heart of
till then, I had never really thought about the concept of a bucket list. I am these actions, as we respond to God’s promise for restoration.
happily married, have the job of my dreams and have just moved to the lovely
county of Somerset.
Useful Links:
Ethical Consumer.
However, upon reaching this milestone, I have started to think about what I
can do in the future to keep life interesting and to keep up with a younger and
Ethical Consumer quick guide to helpful food labels.
more active wife. Then, all of a sudden while on the march of witness in
Glastonbury on Good Friday, one of the members of Glastonbury chapel Good shopping guide to ethical consumerism.
suggested the weather forecast was so good for the weekend it would be a
good idea to walk up Glastonbury Tor to see the sunrise on Easter Sunday Which? Recycling guide.
morning. What a good idea, I thought as we would not get another chance, as
it would probably be raining every Easter for the next 8 or so years and it Recycle Now: Local recycling guide.
would be something completely different and exciting.
18 15At the April Circuit Leadership Team meeting, devotions was on “Living Lent” and
this was the handout that was given and they wanted to share this with you all.
CARING FOR THE EARTH
The Environmental Policy of the Methodist Church
Christian mission includes caring for God’s earth, and sharing in God’s crea-
tion.
God’s way, revealed in Christ, is a generous sharing of the divine love.
Methodists are encouraged to: METHODIST HOMES (MHA)
Conserve resources in the church and at home
Last year we supported the 75th Anniversary of MHA in October and with ad-
Develop more sustainable lifestyles
ditional money coming in since, our Circuit has raised the amazing amount of
Become involved in local, national and global environmental issue
£1,111.39.
From 1943 to 2019, MHA has been at the forefront of specialist care for elder-
ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES ly people. Their general strategy is that all elderly people ‘Live Later Life
Well’ and they continue to do this with loving care and support for over
To promote awareness within the Methodist community of the issues and to 18,200 people each year.
ensure commitment on the part of office holders to them.
MHA Sunday is usually in June and this year it is appropriately on Pentecost
To ensure efficient use of energy and to avoid the pollution of water. Sunday, the 9th June. The theme is
To reduce waste and ensure of its responsible disposal. ‘How is the Good News heard by people living with dementia?’
To use sustainable materials and locally-made goods wherever possible, to
At Pentecost people speaking many different languages heard and understood
offer electronic communication where appropriate, to maximize the use of
recycled resources, and to show concern for the environment in food produc- the message of the Apostles in their own tongue. If we can continue to support
MHA and be proud of its Methodist Heritage we can be sure that they will
tion and distribution.
continue to provide, besides their normal loving care, in their Homes, addi-
To conserve and enhance the natural and the built environment and to tional beneficial services such as music therapy, chaplaincy, specialist help for
be aware of the impact of church activities on the local environment. people with dementia, the Live at Home Community Schemes and much
To make every effort to reduce air pollution and energy consumption more.
by reducing and sharing car travel and by supporting public transport. Thank you. Jean Fraser.
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