Stoke Ferry Methodist Chapel

Our monthl;y methodis Newsletter with a surprising look at other activities in the name of the church!

Aug 6th 11.00 Dawn DeVisme

Aug 13th 11.00 Ruth Palmer

Aug 20th 11.00 Revd Matt Finch

Aug 27th 11.00 Sheila Forth

The world is now so wide open, you can find anything out at the flick of a switch and the tap of a few keys. I tested this out the other day when someone told me about the priest who had tied himself to the church roof to raise money. So I typed in www.anightonthetiles.org and found Fr Malcolm Hunter securely fixed to his parish church roof for 10 days.

My initial reaction was 'O no not another church asking for money! Do churches ever stop saying give us your money?!'. Eventually to my shame, as I read further I realised that it was for a good cause. Although it was for the church roof, the church wanted the world to understand that it was a place for the unnoticed, the hungry and those who sleep rough in their community, those the privileged, like you and me, chose to forget. Fr Malcolm was sleeping on the church with no, food, no toilet, no shelter, no sleeping bag exposed to the elements. He was there to make a statement to all and stand with those who have nothing metres from the church's door.

As a Methodist minister, in this area, it has deeply challenged me as to who do I stand with, which forgotten, brushed aside people do I want the world to know about? In our world there are many pushed to the fringes, falling by the wayside, both in our communities and country, both a metre from our front door and a thousand miles away on the other side of the globe. As humans we have a responsibility to stand with those weaker and less fortunate then ourselves.

As Christians in your community, we believe that to be like Jesus is part of our faith journey and to stand, like he did, with people who the world has past by. I am scared of heights so do expect me to be on the church roof, but please feel free to ask us as your chapel to stand with you or on your behalf if we can in anyway.

Every blessing this summertime,

Matt Finch