Methodism, with more or less justification from time to time, has prided itself on the way in which it has given scope to the gifts and skills of lay people. One of the more recent expressions of this has been the development of the lay witness movement.
This involved the members of one church in sharing their faith with those of another.
On Friday next, Mrs Norma Mackey, from Rathgar, Dublin, and Mrs Shirley Alexander, of Knockbreda, Belfast, will lead a team from their churches to Mountmellick, Co Laois. In the church there they will share in worship and fellowship for the weekend.
In one way this event has its own objective - the strengthening of faith in all those participating. In another sense it is a prelude to the stewardship programme already in preparation in Mountmellick, which will reach its climax in May.
Members of the Mountmellick church will be asked to examine their own gifts and abilities, and commit these to the work of the church in the community. Just a week later, on March 17th, a lay witness team will begin a weekend of similar activity at Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.
The Methodist Church Ministry of Healing is holding a seminar at the Cairnshill church in Belfast on Saturday, March 11th. This is designed to offer help to those who are involved in caring for the disabled, and will begin at 10 a.m. It is planned to conclude at 3 p.m. The speaker will be Mr Paul Dicken, of Through the Roof, an organisation associated with Joni Eareckson Tada.
One Methodist district in Ireland covers all of the country south of a line from Dublin to Galway, and we are accustomed to think of it as large. However, the largest Methodist district in the world is certainly the Ekaterinburg district, which stretches from that city just east of the Urals to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean.
Founded only 10 years ago, the church in Ekaterinburg is thriving, with a variety of activities for children, young people and adults. One minister serves as a chaplain to one of the local prisons.
Though not without its problems, the church here looks confidently to the future.
The Methodist Church President, the Rev Dr Kenneth Wilson, will visit the Londonderry circuit tomorrow and will preach in some of the churches there. On Sunday morning, March 12th, he will be at the Sydenham church, Belfast, and that evening at Holywood, Co Down. The following day he will begin a short tour of Haiti, Nicaragua and the Leeward Islands.
An ecumenical service arranged jointly by the Dublin Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Advisory Committee on Ecumenical Affairs will take place in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, on Sunday, March 19th, at 7.30 p.m. This event will combine a joint (re)discovery and celebration of St Patrick with a focus on the Old Testament theme of Jubilee.
It will explore the theme of "St Patrick, the Stranger in Ireland", setting alongside it our own relationship with strangers coming to our shores today. A warm invitation is extended to all.
March 19th is also the start of this year's Week of the Bible, for which the theme is also inspired by Jubilee. The theme is "The Word that sets us free".