I have just returned from Swanwick Conference Centre where I was on retreat with my fellow ministers. The session began with an introduction as to how we view ministry today. The three words were Variety, Fluidity and Uncertainty. I think these words can express our situation as churches as we come out of the Pandemic.
Variety
In the last two years there has been a tremendous variety of worship and, also, how we express ourselves as Christians in these changing times. We can no longer ignore the internet, we need to use it, and we need to look at a whole breadth of how we worship and serve as Christians in our community. I think we have been ahead of the curve in following the vision God gave us in setting up the Balderton Hub. Which includes the café and resource centre which will enable us to communicate God’s love to people who live in our community, an opportunity to share with people and explore spirituality, a place for them to relax and be among friends, a place where we can provide support for people in our community or to allow organizations to use our premises to support others.
Fluidity
The changing times we are in mean the church has to be fluid in its response to the needs of the community. There is no longer a ‘one size fits all’ mentality. The church has now got to be flexible in its approach to serving people and communicating the gospel. We have to ‘think outside the box’. The systems that we have used for decades no longer work, we have to be more fluid in the way we express our faith, and to a certain extent the internet allows us to do this.
Uncertainty
The response to Uncertainty, is not certainty but confidence. We do not want to be dogmatic, to insist that people believe exactly what we believe, but we do need to be confident in our own belief, not necessarily confident in our own ability but confident in the God we believe in. We are not sure of what lies ahead but we do know that God will be with us and enable us to be faithful in the tasks to which he calls us to. We have hope because we believe in a God of new beginnings. A God who allows us to rest and relax and, also, a God who challenges us to move on to encounter new experiences. God is giving us tremendous opportunities to serve him, and he is providing the resources if we will only hold our hands out to receive them. Please keep praying for God’s work in our community and, also that he will draw more people to believe in him and be involved in his work.
God Bless
Peter
