“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14 (NRSVA)

Dear Friends,

During the Advent and Christmas season Northampton Methodist Circuit has been using the ‘There Is Room’ resources (https://thereisroom.co.uk/ and https://tinyurl.com/mse256pm). We have been hearing about how there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn and how the infant Jesus was born and placed in a manger. We have also been reflecting on how Jesus’ coming into the world as a human being made room for us within God’s Kingdom; God’s peace offering to the world. This has led us to further reflect on how we ourselves can make room for Christ and others. As we follow Jesus as his disciples.

The New Year presents new opportunities for us to reflect on how we might move forward as disciples of Jesus, in the new multi-site Northampton Methodist Church and those of us who are part of the Emmanuel LEP in the Northampton Methodist Circuit.

In January we will be launching a new set of discipleship resources that we will be sharing across Northampton Methodist Church and the Circuit. These resources focus on our discipleship journeys and the connections between them. These discipleship pathways are not linear ones, but are more like a train network. In this network:

• Each station is a place where disciples grow in maturity, and step out in mission and action.
• We learn as we reflect together on what happens at each station.
• The Holy Spirit should be driving! We go where the train takes us.

More information on these resources can be found at: https://www.methodist.org.uk/our-work/our-work-in-britain/evangelism-growth/discipleship-pathways-travelling-together/

This year we will be initially focusing on the practice of ‘worship’ in the Church. We will be looking at how we use the Bible to deepen our understanding of God; how we use prayers of praise, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession to connect with God; and how we use song and music to enable us to express truths about God. The resources will be shared and launched at our United Service on Sunday 1st January (10:30 am) at Park Avenue as well as in our upcoming covenant services in January. We will touch base on how they are being shared at our Northampton Methodist Church: Next Steps meeting on Saturday 4th February, which will outline our direction of travel of Northampton Methodist Church. Then on Saturday 25th March we will be holding a church-wide forum to look at how we can develop worship in Northampton Methodist Church to ensure that it is relevant, engaging, and transformative in our relationship with God.

As we move forward, we are aware that we face challenging decisions on how we use our resources effectively and ensure that we continue to following ‘Our Calling’ in Northampton, and the surrounding villages, to worship, learn and care, to serve others, and to evangelise and make new disciples of Jesus Christ. Yet our starting point is always one of praise and thanksgiving that begins with the mystery of the incarnation, that God is with us.

I would like to end my letter by sharing with you the words from the hymn ‘Best of all is God is with us’ (Singing the Faith 610). Written by Andrew Pratt, and based on the final words of John Wesley,
the hymn reminds us that even though we face challenges and difficulties that we can still give thanks that God is with us. I hope and pray that you too will sense the presence of God, given through the Holy Spirit, this January and that you might continue to find wonder in the mystery of the incarnation as we seek to follow Jesus as his disciples.