8/11/20 Pastoral Letter

Bradford North Circuit Office, Baildon Methodist Church, Newton Way, Baildon, BD17 5NH 0845 6060820 [email protected] 26th October 2020 Pastoral Letter Dear friends, We write in the season of harvest and remembrance, as autumn moves towards winter and the light recedes. We are conscious that for all of us this year has been difficult, and there seems no imminent end in sight to this time of uncertainty. Indeed it seems likely that West Yorkshire will soon join those other regions finding themselves in Tier 3 lockdown, with its increased levels of social distancing and measures to prevent the spread of infection. There are a number of things we want to say. Firstly, it’s okay to feel uneasy, anxious, uncertain about things – we are all feeling something of this. But it’s not okay to bottle it up. One of the things we can offer one another as Christian friends is the space to share how we are feeling. So please feel free to talk, and be ready to listen, whether pastoral visitor, church friend, good neighbour, minister. And be holding in prayer any you know who are struggling. As you pray for them, so someone will be praying for you. Secondly, we are aware that part of the uncertainty may be about church, and whether we should be meeting or not. Across the circuit, Leadership Teams and Church Councils have responded carefully to their contexts, worked hard at risk assessments, and prayerfully considered the right thing to do. We have been clear as Circuit Ministers, along with the Circuit Stewards, that it is down to each church, and that there should be no pressure to do anything which feels unsafe. Thus some churches have opened for weekly worship and limited community use (Christchurch, Baildon, Northcliffe & St. Andrew’s), others for worship less frequently (Bolton, Calverley, Crag, Saltaire, Thornton & Wilsden), while others have not opened for worship but are preparing to make their premises available for community use (Allerton, Haworth Road & Thackley). The move into Tier 3 will not change the situation regarding permission to gather for worship. It is still allowed, so long as all the covid-secure preparations are in place. It does however challenge us as to whether it is right to gather – with the particular restriction on ‘mingling’ with anyone outside our household or support bubble. So we are allowed to attend, but not to mingle. As ministers we would ask each Leadership Team to prayerfully consider the right response to Tier 3. We feel that we should be working on the basis that we don’t meet unless there are strong reasons to do so, rather than the other way round. Thirdly, we want to reaffirm the belief, which we have repeated time after time, that just because a building is not open doesn’t mean the church is ‘closed’. We are open to God, our neighbours, one another, in the service we offer, the care we express, the gifts we give, the prayers we pray, the hope we live by. We are open in the worship we share on paper and screen. Socially distanced doesn’t need to mean disconnected. We are present in one another’s lives. Can we challenge you to think imaginatively about the next few months, and ways in which we might share good news? The Methodist Church Christmas campaign, ‘God is with us’, will give us resources to use on-line and in person. Let’s use our windows, both home and church, our networks, our Facebook pages, our seasonal traditions, in new ways to make clear that we are present and active and living out the truth that God is with us. Finally, to return to the beginning of this letter, let’s remind one another that even as the days shorten and the light recedes, even in a time of great uncertainty and anxiety, we are confident in the love of God as we meet it in the scriptures and experience it in the fellowship of God’s church. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2). We are drawing near to that season in which we declare with all our being that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not and will not overcome it (John 1:5), that God is with us. May God bless you in all you undertake and face in these difficult days. May you know the strength and peace of God’s gracious love, and the caring fellowship of God’s people, and so may you reflect some of God’s glorious light into the lives of all those with whom you have contact. Every blessing, Christine, Merry, Nick and Phil. Circuit Ministers. .

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