Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
July/August 2006

Home
Current issue
Previous issues
Noticeboard
Discussion board
About CTiB

Pastoral Letter

Veronica Faulks, Barnes Methodist Church

I can hardly believe that we at the Methodist Church by Barnes Pond are half way through our Centenary Year. I hope that many of you have a copy of our Centenary Book, which will tell you much, though not all, of the story of the last hundred years.

Why does it seem so important to celebrate being a hundred years old? We all enjoy excursions into the past – at least that part of it which we remember with affection and pleasure. But isn't that simply sentimentality? There is indeed a grave danger that it might be. When we get together and find ourselves saying, 'Do you remember?' we may be doing one of two things. We may be celebrating those things that were good and to which we owe a debt of gratitude – and bringing together (re-membering) those things that will still be of value today. This is altogether positive. Or – we may just be trying to escape the present into the past which our rose-coloured glasses paint for us in such glowing colours. The past is a great place to visit – but a dangerous place to live in.

I think it is important to re-member our roots – as a church community all we have today owes much to those who went before us, kept the faith and set an example to future generations. Also, to examine the 'luggage' we carry around with us – the traditions and ways of doing things, that we have inherited from the past – and decide how much of it is needed now.

But Centenaries also have another vital task – to celebrate and look forward to the unknown that is the future. As I write this my mind is also working on my services for Pentecost – the day which is the true birthday of the church – no matter what we think about 23 September at Barnes Methodist Church. One way to describe the events of the first 'Whit Sunday' is to say that it commemorates the power of God’s Spirit to turn men and women frightened and anxious about the future, into those who faced it, not just with courage, but with anticipation. Christians are neither optimists nor pessimists (though temperamentally we can be either) – but rather those who see the future as belonging to God and who enter it empowered by God, and thus without fear.

Curiously, it is our history which can help us to do this. For instance, Methodism was founded in the 18th century by John and Charles Wesley. One of the well-known stories about the Wesleys occurred when they were bound for America in a sailing ship which was hit by a violent storm. Terrified, the brothers were astonished by the calm and serenity of some German Moravian Christians. When John asked if they were not afraid, he was told: 'Our women and children are not afraid to die.' Our history reminds us that the future is in God's hands, and so are we.

In the end though it is not the future or the past, but the present moment which matters most. For it is what we do today that reflects what we have learned from the past – and that will affect our future – both as communities and as individuals. I hope that as I leave Barnes I can remember that!

Back to the top