Some years ago it was almost standard practice for the incoming president of the Methodist Church in Ireland to publish a book, and carry copies for sale as he made his presidential visits. Ken Todd is reviving the custom, but rather than write the whole book himself he has drawn on the experience of a variety of people, most but not all Methodists, ministers and lay people.
His theme is the encouragement of those involved in Christian ministry. In the secularised climate of the present they are in no little danger of exhaustion, or disillusionment, or both.
The opening chapters are sermons preached, or intended to be preached, at ordination services as charges to the newly ordained. The book, however, does not deal with ministry in the narrow sense in which we often use the word. Often tacitly, but at times explicitly, this book is an encouragement to all the members of the Christian community.
There are contributors from Australia, Ghana, Sri Lanka, the United States and the Caribbean. Most, however, are Irish. The contribution from John Faris is unusual in being printed as poetry, and offers important insights in quite brief form.
Apart from the introduction and the conclusion, Mr Todd contributes some mo dels for mission that are fresh in approach. This small volume, in which all of the chapters are short, offers more than encouragement. It provides a valuable insight into how ministers (ordained and lay) see themselves at the turn of the century.
Mr Todd served as a minister in Sierra Leone; the Rev Dr Sahr Yambasu, a Sierra Leonean, is currently ministering in Wicklow. From April 25th to 29th both will be in Freetown, Sierra Leone to lead a pastors' reconstruction and renewal course. This aims to assist ministers there to rebuild their ministry and congregations after the devastation of the recent civil war.
A recent conference at Cairnshill Methodist Church, Belfast, discussed ways in which churches and their services should be made accessible to the disabled. It's not just a matter of providing ramps for wheelchairs; printed service and hymn sheets with suitably large print should be provided for the visually impaired, and those who are speaking need to bear in mind the requirements of those who are deaf, or partly so. A fuller list of requirements may be had through the Church Ministry of Healing, whose secretary is Mrs Isobel McDonagh.
This morning the Methodist Widows' Home, at Eastwell, is holding a bring-and-buy sale in the Hall of Christ Church, Rathgar, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. On Wednesday, the Dublin district of the Methodist Women's Association is holding a meeting to which both women and men are invited at Wesley House, Leeson Park at 10 a.m.
It will be addressed by Mrs Andrea Siegrist, president of the European Continental area of the World Federation of Methodist and uniting Church Women. She will speak on "The Stranger in our Midst".
Clar Ellagh Christian holiday centre, Kilkee, is holding an Easter break week from April 20th to 27th. Details may be got from the secretary at 01-298 4856.
Tomorrow, the president of the church, Dr Kenneth Wilson, will be preaching in the Belfast South Circuit, which has churches at University Road and Lisburn Road. On Easter Sunday, April 23rd, he will lead worship in the churches at Bray and Dun Laoghaire.