Dear siblings in Christ,
Seasons change and so often
time escapes our notice, however being present each day and rooting ourselves in God’s love enables us to live life to the full. Last time I wrote to you I was preparing to go on my ordination retreat at Cliff College and now it’s three months since my ordination at Shrewsbury Abbey on Sunday 29th June 2025. The picture I share with you, is of the six of us who were ordained together at the Abbey. I would like to thank everyone who came to support me in person and online. The day was such a rich blessing and affirmation of the calling God placed onto my heart so many years ago.
As I write to you this month, I am reflecting on ‘International Day of Peace’ which was on the 21st of September and our role as peacemakers. The ‘International Day of Peace’ was established in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution. Watching or reading the news, we seem so far away from peace around the world, and I am sure you will all agree our hearts ache for peace. Being peacemakers is following the way of Christ, which is through our words and actions, which echo’s with the theme for this year International Peace day campaign ‘ActNow’ (https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace ). In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 5 we read Jesus’s teaching to the crowds on a hill, often referred to as ‘The Beatitudes’’, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (5:9). Walking the way of peace, when we look at the world around us is hard, especially to keep the hope alive that peace will one day become a reality. Jesus is called the ‘Prince of Peace’, as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6, and we read in Philippians (4:7) about Christ’s peace that “surpasses our understanding, will guard our hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. How then can we not lose hope in everlasting peace and continue to play our part in being places of peace as we journey through our week?
The UN Acting now campaign focuses on ‘Peacebuilding’ being an holistic movement which begins when we believe we can all make a difference and that our conversations and actions matter.
This reminds me of one of Mother Teresa’s key motto’s of ‘love in action’, that the small actions we take each day are important and that when we take one step at a time change happens. Therefore, let us each day pray for peace, and ask God how we may be places of peace through our words and actions. This may be to bring reconciliation to conflicts around us, standing up for injustices, speaking into conversations where God’s love and light need to be heard and to proactively take part in campaigns for peace.
As disciples of Christ becoming places of peace is at the heart of our Christian way of life. Jesus’s earthly ministry showed us that being a peacemaker is taking the path which challenges the status quo around us and notices the part we play in either deescalating or escalating conflicts around us. Therefore, question for us all each day is, are we continuing to play our part as peacemakers, as disciples of Christ, because the reality is we all have a part to play to bring peace into our troubled world.
Yours faithfully,
Revd Dr Samantha Gillard
Minister, Northampton Methodist Church & Circuit.
