Friends,
It is with great excitement that I am writing this as we wait for the arrival of the Gaylord family. Jonathan, Kerri, Leo and Henry will be arriving in the country later this month and we will get to spend time with them from the 1st September when Jonathan begins work with us.
It is always a bit of a destabilising time when we transition from one minister to the next. There is the inevitable sadness of saying goodbye to a minister who has been known and loved for a while. And in Paul’s case, 12 years of being known and loved. But it shouldn’t be like a funeral, more like a thanksgiving for his ministry amongst us and sending him with our blessing to go and minister in a new place. He does indeed go with our blessing and our prayers. But equally, we then turn our attention to the what next. What will the new person be like?
The Methodist Church is a world-wide federation – or to use the Methodist word, connexion (yes, spelt with an x) of sister “Conferences” (another Methodist word, meaning Church structure). The Methodist Conference in Britian has a relationship with other Conferences in other countries largely because of the missionaries that John Wesley and his successors sent abroad. Methodism is now world-wide, and depending how you count us, is a little larger than the Anglican Church around the world. Unlike the Anglican Church, we are not organised or ruled centrally, but we do have connections with each other, and meet through the World Methodist Council, which has 80 million members spread across 138 countries. The World Methodist Council has its headquarters in North Carolina in the United States, which is exactly where the Gaylord family are coming from.
One of the joys of this connection with each other, is that we share our theology, but it also means we are open to sharing our ministers. The Methodist Church in Britian has a programme for MOCC ministers, meaning Ministers of Other Churches and Connexions. It means that ministers from other denominations or other Methodist Conferences are able to apply to come and serve here. Sometimes they are simply from other denominations in Britian, like Revd Andy Melvin, who as a British Baptist is also a MOCC minister. Other times, they are Methodist’s from elsewhere in the world. And just occasionally, they are from other denominations elsewhere in the world. All of them are suitably interviewed in a rigorous process, they gain the necessary permissions from their own churches, and they have to be willing to agree to the theology we hold in the Methodist Church in Britain. With all of that in place, we are able to welcome them for 5-year appointments in Britain. It is through this process that we are delighted to welcome Jonathan, Kerri, Leo and Henry.
Obviously, whilst Jonathan is a Methodist minister, with 14 years’ experience, he is coming to a new context and that will mean that there is a lot for him to learn. Churches in this country are legally administered as charities and the Charity Commission sets our how our governance is structured. That in itself will be a huge change. But there will be plenty of subtle differences too. And that is where you all come in. It is going to be a learning curve for Jonathan, but also for his family. From the basics of dealing with cars on the wrong side of the road, to working out what kind of supermarket they like to shop at. It will all be different.
Over the next few months, we will all be working each other out. It works both ways, we get to know the Gaylord family, but as they also get to know us. There will be things that you are thrilled about, and other things that you might not be quite so sure of. It works both ways too though. So, I ask for your prayers for Jonathan, Kerri, Leo and Henry. I ask for your support for them, especially as they begin a new life here, building a home together. I ask for your patience when they don’t quite do, or understand something you ask of them. I ask for your friendship to them, as they build new friends in a new context. Moving across the world is exciting and daunting in equal measure. But most importantly, as they learn from you about this new place, I invite you to learn from them, as we grow in God’s love together.
Revd Barbara
Methodist Superintendent Minister of the Central Sussex United Area.