http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk en-gb methodistbsgc.org.uk 2010-7-15T00:00:00Z methodistbsgc.org.uk http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#70429 This is the time when everything goes quiet in churches. Weekly newssheets become This Month compressed into a few entries on an A5 sheet and the preaching Plan becomes a nightmare for those who make it. Yet in other ways it is a very lonely time for those who can not go away so it has been good news that at least two churches are planning Holiday at Home days when people are invited to a fun day on church premises. The place which really had the idea well developed is the Methodist church in Chippenham. If you want to do something useful you could not do better than to see if you can find out how Derrick Norton Evangelism Network Development Officer in the Methodist Church does it 2010-7-15T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#70013 80 years ago Dean H R L Sheppard wrote a book entitled The Impatience of a Parson in which he had some pertinent things to say about the institution of the church. All these years later many feel that we have tried but not succeeded very well at getting our organisation in the best order. Quite literally God alone knows how hard people have triedOne worrying feature of the whole issue is that the impatience is now in the court of the institution which thinks that there are too many people wanting to hinder their quest for a smoother ride. There was a dramatic statement by a former Secretary of the Methodist Conference in Portsmouth to the effect that the leadership of our Church is near burnout from overwork which shows how hard they are working at sorting out things. Yet nobody asked how much they are making work for themselves as affected Bristol acutely.The years of struggle to ensure the future of Wesley College finally became partly the victim of the Secretariats impatience with d... 2010-7-10T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#69550 On Sunday 4th July a cheerful throng of Methodists gathered in Filton to thank those Ministers moving on in the usual Methodist fashion this September. It was a good occasion made a greater occasion because three members were recognised as having completed years of study and training for the ministry of Local Preaching entirely unpaid but Recognised. I put pictures in the Gallery of this website within seven hours kindly sent on to me by Revd Chris Dobson of the Anglican Diocese.In a country where the government will continue to sweetly suggest that churches and charities are so full of idle retired people that they can take on any responsibilities now handled by the public sector we want to do it differently. The established pattern of the Methodist year with duties and ministries changing at the same weekend at the beginning of each September has a strength and reasonable feel to it. SO it is doublydifficult to know that the pressure to economise and rationalise has destroyed the exp... 2010-7-5T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#68869 It must be as difficult to start looking at all the material on our website as anywhere else. Please look at my new Site Map opened by a link on the Home Page. I hope to update this regularly like the rest of this site and eventually have an index. There is the occasional grumble through the contact page please grumble or advise that way if you can help improve this.The colourcoding throughout this site though when it was laid out in print on a page nobody seemed to notice continuesLocal Church items are in REDCircuit items are in BLUEOthers relating to District or other local events are in GREEN.To make matters worse one person rightly or wrongly and thats me feels that all the evidence is that sites set up and run through an office soon get neglected. So one person works as hard as possible to put material in front of you so that it does not get left behind in the busy life of the more important people in our Circuit.I dread somebody going to a site which us useless it seems to say ... 2010-6-26T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#68535 At the end of this week some 300 of UK Methodists head for Portsmouth for the Annual Conference. Many others will find it difficult to summon up any enthusiasm and afterwards some of us may be puzzled by the decisions made there. Almost exactly nine years after retiring or as Methodists used to say sitting down I miss the certainties and characters of thirty years ago whilst knowing perfectly well change is bound to come and I agree with those who find the way the Conference has developed to be sad. Anyway watch our home page for links to the Conference and if you look in the right place you will find a link through which you can watch Conference business live I hope it has some signs of life and a change to actually believing again that things which live have to GROW. 2010-6-21T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#62605 I put a paragraph on this website about the extra service that people can give to any organisation by undertaking tasks that cant or wont be paid for. It was triggered by a conversation in which one of the directors of Reckless Orchard a firm of highlyregarded landscape designers pointed out that there are people at UWE who have worked out a whole scheme whereby those who are trained and looking to find a suitable job may work as Volunteers.Yet the only people who seem to be asked are people late into retirement.My sadness is that those who cannot themselves be bothered to learn how to the Web then deny themselves its advantages by not asking members of their families who use it all the time to look up on this site what is going on. 12year old grandchildren will happily look up things for grandma if she asks. Similarly those who want help in finding more helpers for important forms of service cannot persuade those who complain Im doing enough already they are often doing less than so... 2010-4-9T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#55420 After sharing in the Ebenezer 150th Anniversary celebrations in French St Martin there was one more day before the flight back to Amsterdam with KLM. When we were in the Caribbean about ten years ago I had tried to visit St Eustatius usually known as Statia but we could not book a flight. This time I had found that eBookers website offered flights and what was even better the tickets were at a concession price for over65s.This meant that we were booked on a flight with WINAIR the only company to fly into Statia at 8.30 on Monday morning and the hotel let us get some coffee earlier than usual before the friendly taxidriver drove us to the airport on the Dutch side. We took our food packs from the evening before for our breakfast and not very long after we had eaten there was an announcement that anyone booked on the 8.30 flight who wished could get on an earlier flight so before 8 we went out with about 8 other passengers and boarded the 20seat Twin Otter aircraft. Joyce found it rather... 2010-1-3T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#54952 In my previous Blog which you ought to read first I described arriving to share in 150th Anniversary Celebrations at Ebenezer Methodist Chapel in Marigot St. Martin in the French West Indies.I ended looking forward to some special events.These events were a film evening when we viewed previous anniversary celebrations an evening with great programme of sacred music sung by several choirs including those from other churches in the Circuitand a Cultural Evening at the local Sports Centre with dance groups and cheerful plays with much laughter.We rested well and enjoyed the lovely view from our room the airconditioned comfort and the opportunity to walk a short way in the heat to the town of Marigot. We had lunch with the Minister Revd Bonny Byron one day and when we got back from the fine restaurant at Simpson Bay on the Dutch side I rode with her to the Circuit office in my day the Manse which seemed quite large now it was a very small building opposite shopping Mall There we sorted out... 2009-12-23T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#54830 Return to St. Martin a reportIn the summer of 2009 I received an unexpected email from the West Indies. Like several other ministers from the British Isles who had worked in the area known as the Leeward Islands I had written a few lines of greeting for a souvenir book being published to mark the 150th Anniversary of the Ebenezer Methodist Chapel in Marigot St.Martin.When I had flown there in 1962 the Chapel had been my first charge and the total population of the island which uniquely is divided into a French country in the north and a Dutch country Sint Maarten in the south was less than 6000. To my delight I received an email asking if I could attend the celebrations at the end of November 2009 and did not take much persuading to say Yes please. Which is why on 16th November my wife Joyce and I took a flight from Bristol to Amsterdam. Here we were able to meet up with my cousin Ingrid. She had visited my family in Marigot in the 1960s and we looked over some photos she had saved. T... 2009-12-20T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#37037 In the recent Methodist Heritage Forum meeting in Bristol all churches were encouraged to join the scheme so successful in so many areas to take part in the DOORS OPEN DAYs in September when many members of the public take the opportunity to see the inside of important buildings. In the City of Bristol thousands walk from site to site using a comprehensive Guide and John Wesleys Chapel and the Charles Wesley House received over 1000 visitors in each of the past 2 years.What is important to realise is that arrangements for one September begin as soon as the doors close for the previous ones. Members of some churches in our Circuit which have opened their doors in recent years have been dispirited but it may be because they were not in a local Guide. The procedure for offering to be part of one seems to be kept fairly quiet but it does not mean that offers to join will not be welcomes. What is important is to apply to your local Council NOW before the end of February. You will be almos... 2009-2-22T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#36285 A minister rang me the webservant to ask me to tell the congregation in some churches that Sundays services were cancelled due to the dangerous icy roads forecast. Within 15 minutes the information was available to the world including tens of members or even more in whose homes Computers were switched on and who were directly involved. If I had been told about more such special arrangements the news could have quickly and easily have been spread over hundreds within Bristol and South Gloucestershire.In the next 12 hours in homes all round the circuit in those very homes some would have said I wonder when our ministerstewardfriends will ring to tell us whether or not they care enough about safety and dont expect us to risk our necks by sliding to Church.If you are one of the six or seven people who open this website and are actually involved in one of the churches in the BSG Circuit may I ask a favour please Can we find any way to encourage more members to use the Internet as a friendly... 2009-2-8T00:00:00Z http://www.methodistbsgc.org.uk/page8.htm#35262 It is always interesting to hear on any religious radio or tv programme or to read in the religious press how many people whose attitude to belief ranges from agnosticism to militant atheism spend time listening watching or reading what Christians say. Sometimes I wonder if there would be more outcry from atheists than believers if when the BBC axes Songs of Praise.I returned the compliment and looked up the Secular Society website and read some alternative thoughts for the day and they clearly are written by people who tune in religiously each day to the real thing choking on their cornflakes. Maybe Im biassed but I reckon Lord Griffiths and Colin Morris make better listening It was therefore interesting to look on the Methodist Church website to see that there is a Pod Radio interview with the young lady who benefitted from Professor Dawkins generous payment for those advertisements on the buses which say that there is probably no God. Each of us will have their own views on all t... 2009-1-20T00:00:00Z