Author Archives: Alison Gunderson

Speeding Up and Slowing Down

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Dear Friends,

Mark 2:1-12 & 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15

The gospel has more than one speed in its effective impact. “Immediately” is a favourite term of the Gospel of Mark. In this text we are told that Jesus counters his critics; “immediately” he heals the paralyzed man. The man “immediately” went out, healed. There is an instantaneous effect of Jesus’ ministry, according to Mark. No waiting, no delay, no indecision!

The German pastor Johann Christoph Blumhardt famously counselled his companions in faith to “hasten and wait.” The phrase catches both the urgency of the Gospel lesson and the slow process of the imagery of Paul. There is a time of urgency for faith when action must be taken, and there is a time for watching and waiting until the time is right.

Lent is a time to reflect on our several inclinations about hurrying and waiting. Some of us are impatient all the time. Others of us are inclined to watch and wait all the time. Faith requires us to have more than one speed and to know when context and circumstance require speeding up or slowing down.

God in whose hand are all our times, give us a proper sense of your speed so that we know when it is wise to hurry and when prudent to wait. In his name. Amen.

God’s blessing be yours,

Deacon Stephen

He Will Be Called … Mighty God

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“For to us a child is born … and he will be called … Mighty God …” Isaiah 9:6 KJV

Dear Friends,

Wow, here we are! It is already time for the Preaching Plan of the second quarter of the new Circuit.

It is also the quarter that we remember God’s Son entering our world and embracing humanity. Christmas is a special time! It is a time to be generous, a time to think of others, a time to show hospitality and a time to thank God for His humbleness.

Christmas is a time to stop our everyday activities and “take stock” of our life. It is a time to remember that the truth of Christmas is still relevant for us as humanity in the 21st century. The above verse is a remarkable revelation. Jesus sets aside the glory and splendour of Heaven to take on the form of human life; and yet remains the Mighty God. One of God’s names is “Immanuel”, which means “God with us”. I find it so amazing to consider that the very God who has the power to create chooses to be with His creation in human form.

Let us not lose sight of this awesome truth amidst all the turkey, tinsel and present wrappings; and may we in this quarter continue our journey of discovering more of the Mighty God.

May Mighty God bless you and yours over the Christmas and New Year celebrations,

Together We Are Stronger in Jesus

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Dear Friends,

When this preaching plan begins, the new West Cornwall Circuit will come into being; 18 churches and over 30 preachers all together from merging the West Penwith Circuit and the St Ives Circuit. Some of your services will be led by preachers new to you, and some of you preachers will be discovering fresh chapels. So, there will be a degree of unfamiliarity and it will take time to adjust. But newness is stimulating and we need not hasten to settle down.

Already the Circuit Leadership Team have worked hard to merge the administration and to prepare for the arrival of our two new staff whom we welcome at this time. Edwin, Sue and Daniel Myers and are joining us from Cannock in Staffordshire, whilst Stephen and Gillian Richardson have come from Treharris in South Wales. They are very welcome and very much needed. As the Myers are settling into our newly acquired manse in Carbis Bay, we are trying as quickly as possible to make the Newlyn manse ready for Stephen and Gillian. In the meantime, they are living in a rented house.

Amidst all of this, I am taking over the superintendency from Steve Wild and Julyan Drew. We thank them both for all their work amongst us in these past years. We pray particularly for Julyan as he retires on health grounds, that God will restore him to a blessed retirement.

As we begin this new phase of Methodist mission in West Cornwall the prospects are exciting, but only potentially so. Circuit mergers too often result in ‘Together we are bigger’, rather than ‘Together we are stronger’. We must not settle for administrative success nor smooth integration, because if we do the merger will be nothing more than retrenchment and the decline that most of our churches have been experiencing will continue.

I am hopeful that we can turn things round and start making and maturing more disciples of Jesus Christ, and thus growing His Kingdom around here. My hope is not in the new circuit, nor in Methodism; my hope is in Jesus. ‘Together we are stronger in Him’. Let us not pray vaguely about the circuit but rather that we should be open to the Holy Spirt renewing all our worship services and devotional meetings. People in our area need to meet with Jesus Christ and to be confronted with the supernatural reality of God. Our business is to make our circuit and our churches useful to God as He reaches out to meet those who do not yet know His love. We are in that business or we are out of business.

With warm regards to you all,

Alastair

Alastair Bolt