Minister's Letter September 2024
Revd John Henry
Tickhill Methodist Church
I love September, in fact I think I would go as far as to say it is my favourite month of the year.
For several reasons:
It usually begins to get a bit cooler; I really don't like the heat especially when it's overbearing. It is a month when many birds are on the move in migration (I am a bird watcher).
It is the season of the harvest when we celebrate God's goodness within the earth... and...It is the New Methodist Year - in fact bizarrely sometimes people wish each other a Happy New Year!
And I suppose my thoughts centre around the New Methodist Year; within the Methodist Church their is a sense of newness.
New church leaders perhaps - certainly true for Tickhill, last year.
A new year in terms of meetings, finances and so on.
However, in a very real sense a chance to recalibrate and renew.
Often a sense of starting anew is also to be found beyond Church life. Some children will have started a new school, some people will start a new job in September and whether that is the case or not oftentimes people are returning to work after Summer holidays.
I can remember how I felt last year starting a new job in Doncaster, feeling a little unsure; getting used to new ways of doing things and so on.
What made theses things so much easier was my faith in God and my walk with Jesus Christ.
Although it is not 'really' New Year for many people will indeed be like my experience last year a new beginning...
Let me finish this month with words that are often used in January: And I said to the the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown". And he replied: Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
Whether you are starting something new or not this is really good advice, because if you really think about it, each new day is a new beginning.
Every blessing,
Revd John.
Superintendent of Doncaster Methodist Circuit, Minister of Tickhill Methodist Church.
- Tickhill Methodist Church
- Northgate
- Tickhill
- South Yorkshire
- DN11 9HY