Words from Bede Circuit
Dear Friends
I trust this letter finds you well and you are adapting to life in this ever-changing world. It is at times too difficult to keep up with what is happening , foreign travellers have their plans changed by the day as other places are added to the quarantine list and closer to home areas are put into some form of local lockdown. Indeed, South Tyneside has been put on “the watch list” We continue to live in uncertain times and perhaps many of us yearn for a return to normality whatever that may be. The one consistent in all of this is the faithfulness and love of the God that we worship. Some churches this last weekend trialled holding church services once again and this will be a steep learning curve. Whilst it was a return, the worship was quite different, transferring a sea of faces on a lap top screen to faces wearing face masks across a worship area. It poses questions of what we are returning to, do we really want to return to what we had before? Those returning to worship enter those churches with different experiences of the past few months and we perhaps need revaluate on what is important to us as church goers.
One of the tv programmes I have come to enjoy is “The Repair Shop” For those who have not seen it, members of the public take all sorts of items to the repair shop, those often loved items of special importance to the family which have become damaged for whatever reason. There could be all sorts of things leather bags, army artifacts, ceramics or chairs, a whole realm of things. Whilst I am always amazed at the level of craftsmanship of those on the repair shop what I am also aware of is that they do not return items to factory condition. The arms of the teddy bear are sewn back but the slight wearing on the side where it has been hugged so much is left as is the dent of the artifact from the war left alone as that was the bullet ricochet that saved the soldiers life . The items are passed back to their owners, memories preserved but the item never perfect. When we return fully to our churches let us use the time to make something better yes with all the memories and experiences we have of that particular church but be a church where new memories are made where the love of Jesus flows . Like the repaired clock ticking into a new era, let us as Christ’s church come back repaired and different ready to do God ‘s work.
Our meetings/services continue on Zoom.
Bible studies resume on Mondays 7.00pm and Thursday at 10.30am. We will be studying the book of Philippians during September.
Sunday worship at 10.30am
Wednesday Morning prayer at 10am will continue on Zoom.
There are other services on Why Pay Telephone Conference. Please contact the Senior Church Steward (Brenda Wallace) for more details: wesleymemchurch.pr@gmail.com and please do use the Sunday service sheet as we continue (for now) to worship at home.
With love
Rev. Neil Maynard, on behalf of the Bede Circuit staff team.