Quarterly Newsletter www.leicestertrinitycircuit.org.uk Autumn 2018 MAP OF CIRCUIT CHURCHES LEICESTER TRINITY CIRCUIT The Beacon Autumn 2018 Superintendent’s letter My brothers and sisters in the Lord I’m writing this letter after attending the Methodist Confer- ence in Nottingham, and I have to thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to attend this meeting. In this issue I intend to reflect on the interesting experiences of Confer- ence 2018. And how the Worship, fellowship and the inter- action with other delegates confirmed our oneness of the Church of God and of Methodist people. For me the re-visiting of Our Calling presented by the Conference gave me something to bring back to reflect on. It reminds Christian people and Meth- odist people to define what it is that they are called to do in God ‘s Kingdom. Our Calling for me represents the ethos of what Methodism is all about and why we exist. The Methodist Way of life encompasses worship, learning and caring, service and evangelism, hence my reflection covers those areas in the life of our Circuit. When we gather for worship in our small village chapels or in large suburban churches we recognise that we belong to a larger body which is the World Church. On the 15th July the Northampton District hosted a District World Church Celebration at Park View Methodist Church in the Northampton Circuit. The service included Methodist people from diverse backgrounds around the world, from Tonga, Fiji, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, the Neth- erlands and Kenya just to name a few. This included sharing food from where these brothers and sisters came from. I hope the pictures taken on that day will be made available to a larger audience. The message from our preacher The Revd Canon Helen Cameron, (District Chair), the different activities and the singing in different languages reminded us that we are One in the Lord and as such we belong to one family-God’s family. The gathering resembled the pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The opportunity of worship- ping together will continue in 2019 when our two Leicester Methodist Circuits (Leicester Trinity and Leicester West) will hold a joint Circuits Service on the 1 17t March 2019 graced by the President and Vice President of the Methodist Con- ference. This will be an occasion where we hope that our oneness will be made visible as we pray, sing and listen to the word of God together as Methodists in Leicester. I appeal to all our churches in Leicester that members of the congrega- tions will attend in their numbers. While the structure of the traditional class systems is no longer viable in most of our Methodist congregations, we still have cell groups, prayer groups and house groups that are helping in the learning and caring of many different people. How- ever small the congregation is it is of paramount importance to continue to prac- tice hospitality and generosity and I encourage this. All these are made possible when the people of God offer friendship through learning and caring for one an- other. As the world continues to face the challenges of a decline in living standards be- cause of failing economies, poor governance, lack of good stewardship of the nat- ural resources and care for the environment, we need to recognise that the main victims of this are the poor in our society who are unable to sustain a livelihood. Close to home most of our congregations are active in providing food to Food banks to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. This is done in addition to donations to other charities such as Christian Aid and many more that need help. Showing the love of God through giving, helping the poor and fighting injustice is a positive way of living our faith. They provide an opportunity for Christians to speak about their faith to others. Through encounters such as these the love of God is experienced by people’s in their life situations. And we all become better disciples of Christ. As I have previously expressed, the Methodist Way of living cannot be done in isolation but in sharing this way of life. Finally, as we welcome our new ministers and their families I would like to thank you all for all your work and prayers for all my colleagues as we seek to fulfil our calling to be better disciples of Jesus Christ. I will commit to pray for all our churches as they engage with the challenges of mission in their communities. May the Lord bless you and keep you Yours faithfully Rev. Edson Dube 2 When; Where; What. Sat August 6pm Upp Road Caribbean evening 18th Sat August Countes…. Skittles evening Sat Sept 2th Mayflower Visit to Launde Abbey Sat Sept Countes.. Garden Patrty Sat Sept 8th Wig Magna Grand Wigston Show Sat Sept 22th 8.30 am Mayflower Circuit Prayer Break- fast Sat Oct 6th 2.00 pm Upp Rd Games afternoon Sat Oct 13th ? evening Wesley Hall ‘Church at Home ‘ Food & Entertain- ment Sat Oct 27th 10am – Truro/ MWiB— 4pm Blackburn ‘Life & Learning’ Sat Nov 17th 10am- Upp. Road Christmas Fayre & 2pm meal Fri Nov 23rd ? evening Mayflower Upp. Rd. Drama Sat Nov 24th Group ‘The Casts Offs’ Sat Dec 1st All day Blaby Christmas Tree Sun Dec 2nd afternoon Festival 3 Regular Prayer Meetings Day When Time Venue Event Sun 2nd of month 6.00 pm Bishop street Inspiration eve… Sun 3rd of month 8.45 am Sth Wigston Bible Breakfast Tues 4th of month 1.45 pm Syston Julian Prayers Tues Weekly 10.00 am Syston Holy communion 1st Tues 11.00 am Tues Monthy 1.30 pm Wesley Hall Bible Study Wed 1st of month 11.00 am Wig Mag Service Wed 2nd of month 10.30 am Mayflower Healing Service Wed Weekly 9.30 am Birstall Holy communion 118 London Thurs Monthly 7.30 pm Rd, Oadby Julian Prayers Phone 2718948 for details Thurs Weekly 10.00 am Christchurch Prayers Sat Weekly 10.15 am Oadby. Prayers 4 On Becoming Vice-President Designate It all happened so fast. I’d been approached some years ago to consider putting my name forward, but it didn’t really seem ‘me’ and I had a demanding full-time job. This time things were different. A number of people suggested it from a variety of perspectives, and as I’m heading towards redundancy it had become more feasible to consider. But all this only began in May (May 3rd to be precise). Since then I’ve ‘mulled’ on it, listened, talked with friends and family, asked questions, consulted with people who know about the role, checked the official job-description, mulled some more (and even sat in quiet contemplation about it). On June 28th I decided to let my name go forward. By July 4th I’d secured more than 50% of the Methodist Conference’s votes. It was a truly humbling experience – even a bit of a shock – and I was very emotional for a few days afterwards. There were lots of reasons for this but a main one – when your job is brought to an end, and it feels like your career is being stifled – is the sense of value that comes with the role. Unlike academic achievements, to be designated via an election is to receive a different kind of affirmation. People are voting for you for all sorts of reasons, I guess, but not mainly because you happen to have been awarded various bits of paper. But what now? Well it’s a three-year role: a year of preparation, in which you begin to do some of the tasks which continue into the Vice Presidential year (such as being on the Methodist Council); the VP year itself – a year of ‘visitation’ and representation, in which, in close partnership with the Presi- dent, you drop in on a selected number of Districts, represent the Methodist Church in a variety of settings (political party conferences, for example), and generally try to support Methodists wherever they are; and a third year in which you remain part of the Presidential Team, and there may be tasks be- gun in your main year which need finishing off. And, of course, the President, Revd Dr Barbara Glasson, and I shall take a theme round with us, through which we hope to stimulate the Church as a whole. We don’t know ourselves what it will be yet. So stay tuned… Clive Marsh. 5 World Federation Day 2018 Life and Learning: Quality Education for All (based on Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all) Saturday 27th October 2018 10.00am – 4.00pm Truro Methodist Church, Union Place, Truro, Cornwall TR1 1EP St Paul’s Methodist Church, Higher Audley St, Blackburn, Lancs BB1 1DH The day will include worship, Bible study, keynote presentation, and ‘information stations’. Full programme and travel directions will be sent out in late September. Refreshments on arrival and hot lunch included. There is no set charge for the day, but you are invited to make a realistic donation (suggested amount £10 per person) to cover expenses for the day. There will be a market place of relevant stalls including books and Fair Trade items. Booking:: MWiB, PO Box 9298, Loughborough LE11 9FY or email the information required to: [email protected] Information and booking form available to download from: www.mwib.org.uk or 0300 030 9873 or from the Editors.