42

Fresh Bible stuff in Syston

Syston Methodist Church are celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible this autumn. We have three related events

Bible Reading Challenge

Starting at our Church Anniversary on Sunday 9th October we have a challenge to read the whole New Testament in 30 days. I am delighted that having put the notice out last week we already have over 20 people signed up for this.

The key objective is to Deepen our Discipleship (Our Circuit Mission is: Deepening Discipleship. making New Disciples) through encouraging us all to read the Bible more and improve our understanding of Scripture. This reading challenge will help especially with understanding God's big picture and also improving our experience of the relationships between the books, characters and events of the New Testament.

However, we have added a little side objective which is to raise some money for the mission of Syston Methodist Church and for Bible Translation. So there is a £5 entry fee (gets you the reading plan), opportunities for sponsorship and a £10 "fine" if you give up before the end.

If anyone out there in Internet land would like to join in, I am happy to recieve donations amd then email you the reading plan.

We are also making sure we support and encourage those on the challenge so we are offering two suppoert groups that will meet weekly starting the week before the challenge. So far just over half those signed up for the reading challenge have also signed up for the small groups which means both are going ahead.

Bible Exhibition

Towards the end of the Bible Reading Challenge we are putting on a Bible Exhibition with a lareg collection of Bibles in different languages & formats. It will include a guide to English translations and also people's own Bibles with their stories of why they are important to them. We hope to have a number of other exhibitors as well.

The Exhibition will then feed into a new monthly event (normally 1st Sunday evening of the month, starting 6th November) at Syston at 6pm titled "A Fresh look at the Bible" which will be led by our Superintendent Minister Rachel and myself. We had a good session planning this today and I am really looking forward to this.

So a busy time, but the reactions have been great so I am very excited about what God is doing here.

Making the Methodist Church look radical

For many people it seems the Methodist Church has a reputation for having lost it's radical edge. Many people are apparently unaware of the many ways in which Methodists have been radical upsetters of society in the past.

For me one of the joys of being a Methodist Minister is seeing the radical fire within many in our Church and the different ways in which that radical passion is being freed, supported and even celebrated. In many different places and ways I see the fire of radical Christian discipleship burning brighter in the Methodist Church than I have ever seen before in my lifetime.

Given the perception of so many that the Methodist Church is staid, dead and not at all radical I found it very interesting last night to attend my first Leicester Cycle City Workshop.

When I compare that workshop with the other meetings so far this week I give thanks for the opportunities I have to work with fantastic, radical, exciting, passionate, loving people in the Methodist Church.