Methodist Notes

As preparations get under way in homes and religious circles for the festive season Methodists, like other congregations, are…

As preparations get under way in homes and religious circles for the festive season Methodists, like other congregations, are expecting larger crowds as people return home for the holiday and newcomers join in the celebrations.

In some congregations this Christmas will take on a new note as people from abroad have been welcomed to worship over the past year. In different ways they will weave their contribution into the church's celebration of the birth of Jesus.

One asylum-seeking family will celebrate the season with greater enthusiasm this year thanks to the help of people in their congregation.

When the couple left their home in Africa they were obliged to leave their two-year-old daughter in the care of relatives, planning to bring her to Ireland as soon as the legal formalities could be completed. The couple have now been assured of their future in Ireland, but it will take several months before their daughter's acceptance is secured.

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Happily, a family in the congregation has agreed to accept responsibility for the child and sponsor her, travelling to Africa to bring her back to be with her parents in Ireland for Christmas.

The uniting of families is part of the message of Christmas, as is the making of peace between rivals. Uganda has a history of tension between Catholics and Protestants, but there is reason to hope that this is now a thing of the past. Father Francis Mbadzura and the Rev Edward Kironde exemplify the new spirit as they are working together to translate the Bible into the Luganda language.

The new version is to be published by the Bible Society next year.

In Belfast, a new course of study for the Queen's University diploma and degree in theology will begin at Edgehill College in February. It will be on a part-time basis, with lectures one evening a week.

What is possibly most significant about the course is the involvement of theologians from two traditions in the lectures, made possible by co-operation between Edgehill College and the Mater Dei Institute in Dublin. This is a departure from the traditional teaching of theology in Ireland.

Two notable anniversaries have recently been celebrated. In Chelsea, Moravians and Methodists joined to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Count Nicholas Zinzendorf. His Moravian followers had a strong influence on the young John Wesley. In Munich, the United Methodist Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of the start of its work in Germany, where there are now 120,000 members.

It not only celebrated the work of the past 150 years, but committed itself to new ventures in faith and service for the future.

Tomorrow the president of the church, the Rev Kenneth Todd, will be in Strabane to share in the celebrations which mark the centenary of the present Methodist church in the town.

On Wednesday and Thursday he will be at home in Co Cork, where he will be involved in events to celebrate a visit to the city by four heads of churches, Archbishops Sean Brady and Robin Eames, Moderator Trevor Morrow and himself. On December 17th he will again visit the Dublin South circuit of which he was minister some years ago.