Put People First - G20 Summit, 2009 – London

On 2 April, leaders of twenty of the world’s most powerful nations will meet in London for the G20 Summit.

The G20 meetings will be a massive opportunity to build a future that works for the benefit of people everywhere, and where global warming isn’t ignored.

A mass rally will take place just a few days before G20 leaders meet – on 28 March in London’s Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park.

So come along, join tens of thousands of others, and take part in this huge event.

A Special Mothering Sunday Service

Mother's Day, Mission in Britain” has a very large compass and I could tell you of the work of Chaplains in prisons, hospitals, schools and Universities or in the Armed Forces, amongst other things but, for the ‘Mission in Britain’ service on Mothering Sunday and in this church’s Centenary Year, I want to speak about ‘Home’”, declared the visiting preacher, the Revd Dr Mark Wakelin, at Caversham Heights Methodist Church on Sunday, March 22. Mark is the Methodist Connexional Team Secretary for Internal Relationships(formerly known as ‘Home Missions’).


This is the Revd Dr Mark Wakelin, Methodist Connexional Team Secretary for Internal
Relationships, at Caversham Heights Methodist Church to celebrate the church's centenary year. On the Communion Table behind him is the special candle presented the previous Sunday by the President of the Methodist Church of Great Britain to unite all the churches he will have visited in his year as President. In the foreground is the basket of Mothering Sunday posies that were later presented by children to all the ladies in the congregation.

Dr Wakelin continued, “On Mothering Sunday, we return to the church where we were nurtured in the faith and celebrate all that that church means to us. It is our spiritual home and we give thanks for it. Today has also come to be known (thanks to the greetings card companies) as Mother’s Day and so it is important to emphasise the importance of home and the Mother in the family and in bringing children to faith.

“If you dig down deep enough inside each one of us here, you will find something very beautiful, because each one of us – every person everywhere – is made in the image of God and capable of showing His likeness to the world about us. As we follow Jesus and grow closer to Him, we will be able to show and spread His love wherever we go. The central message of Christ’s Gospel is Love – God’s love for us -and I sense a feeling of excitement in the whole Methodist Church that is about to explode in a new way in our country.”

Dr Wakelin with church stewards, Jim and Daphne Phillips

Brighton hosts Britain’s first divorce fair

A divorce fair to help those going through separation drew exhibitors ranging from
financial consultants to psychic healers and ‘ministers’ offering separation ceremonies. The Starting Over Show was organised by 44-year-old Suzy Miller with the aim of offering ‘the sort of exhibition [she] would have liked’ when she went through her separation six years ago. On hand for the 300 visitors were family lawyers, debt advisers, alongside chocolate manufacturers and feng shui consultants offering advice on redesigning client’s living space from a spiritual perspective.



Ministers of the Rhythm of Life church, a growing organisation with over 350 ministers, offered rituals to help couples and children forgive and ‘let go of their pain’. Paula Hall, a Relate psychotherapist, said she was concerned about the number of financial services present. ‘Vulnerable people going through a divorce are not in a good position for the h ard sell,’ she said.



Source: The Times (16/3)
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article5914401.ece

I have very mixed feelings about this divorce fair, partly because i feel that it could encourage couples to rush to explore what is on offer there instead of trying to work at their relationship and finding reconciliation, and partly because there appears to be little input from the mainstream Christian churches or other faith groups nor any form of careful scrutiny of organisations wanting to exhibit help.

Spring sunshine

We are having a week of wonderful Spring sunshine that has transformed our drab winter landscape and each day as I watch this continual transformation it lifts
my spirits and I rejoice in the creator God who never fails to bring this about. Each day, at the beginning of Spring there are new blooms to add to the delights of the season.

The bright yellow forsythia is now in its full glory and the lilac buds are now almost at bursting point. There are more yellow daffodils than we had last year and yesterday was the first day when the carpet of grape hyacinths suddenly painted the ground blue! In between these are the yellow primroses and multi-coloured primulas and many of the tulips have fat buds just waiting to come into flower.

Elsewhere, the wallflowers show just a tiny hint of the yellow and bronze colours to become beautiful blooms quite soon and the fresh, almost red new
leaves of the rose bushes spell out a message of hope and promise of wonderful roses to come later. Down the road and up in Caversham Heights, the cherry trees are in full blossom - always a glorious sight after the dark days of winter! It's too early for my apple blossom yet, but the buds are formed and the sunshine will encourage their growth.

On my kitchen window sill the tomato plants have germinated well and up in the (cold) greenhouse there are some very healthy early pea seedlings that are causing great delight because for the last two or three years we have not managed to grow any peas at all, and I DO like peas, especially straight from the pod! I lost my first sowing of broad beans this year because of the very severe frost catching them in the unheated greenhouse. Only one stalwart seedling survives! But a second sowing of broad beans has just begun to sprout and so have the French beans. Perhaps I'll raise next year's broad beans on my kitchen windowsill, because I proved last year that if you get them established in the ground as early as possible you can be clear of blackfly. I may have to deal with that this year, I'm afraid.

So when I set off yesterday for a routine visit to the podiatrist, my heart was full of joy and, without having to wear a big coat, I greeted everyone I met with, 'Isn't it a wonderful morning?' Usually, it made the other person's face light up and evoked a similar response, but in the outgoing bus, an older lady sat heavily down beside me and said with feeling, 'I wish I was in my grave.' 'Surely not', I replied and after a little while in similar vein, I tentatively asked if I dare ask how old she was. As if it were a great burden, she groaned, '80'. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it! I replied that she was only a baby, because I am in my 88th year and I'm enjoying life. The other passengers were enjoying this but, of course I don't know (and she wasn't inclined to tell me) what illnesses or troubles she might be burdened with. I only wanted her to be able to share my joy at God's wonderful sunshine and all His creation.

On my way back home on the bus, a frail elderly man - no, I didn't ask HIS age! - got on at the Library and came to sit next to me. For the final time, I said my piece, 'Isn't it a wonderful morning?', and his reply was, 'Huh! Spring's come much too early!' It was then time for me to get off the bus and I had no chance to cheer him up. So, today, on yet another such wonderful morning, I feel I must offer a prayer for all those who, for one reason or another, illness or depression or the effects of old age, are unable to rejoice in this wonderful gift of Spring sunshine with all the wealth of beauty that it brings. Thank you, Creator God and Father.

Church welcomes Prime Minister’s commitment to nuclear disarmament

The Methodist Church has welcomed news that Gordon Brown has pledged to consider cutting Britain’s nuclear arsenal. The Prime Minister made the pledge yesterday
as he announced that Britain would be at the forefront of the move towards a multilateral deal on nuclear disarmament.

In response to the news that Britain will be hosting a conference of recognised nuclear weapons states, Policy Adviser Steve Hucklesby said; “We welcome the Prime Minister’s intention to negotiate a road map to disarmament by all nuclear states.

“Russia and the US have between them hundreds of tonnes of weapons-grade uranium in their nuclear arsenals. In comparison, the UK nuclear weapons system is tiny and the possibility of reducing this further is welcome. However, the only offer that other nuclear states are likely to note is a complete decommissioning of all UK nuclear weapons. This would save the UK over £20 billion in investment on new nuclear submarines, an investment that simply does not make sense in a time of economic crisis.

“Nuclear powers must show that they are committed to the decommissioning of all nuclear weapons. This move is vital for global security. Only then will we be able to dissuade non-nuclear states from joining the nuclear weapons club.”

Methodism is Moving!

Methodism is a Movement! Methodism is moving! That was the exciting message brought to Caversham Heights Methodist Church by this year’s President of the Methodist Church of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Revd Stephen Poxon, when the Methodists from all over Greater Reading and North Hampshire met for worship there on Sunday 15th March.

He had the packed congregation on the edge of their seats as he told of a Circuit (group of Methodist churches) that had no churches, having sold all its churches to free them from the financial burden of upkeep so that they could serve Christ better within their community. Elsewhere, a group of the members in a large church in the West Midlands had bought a dilapidated secondary school from the Council and refurbished it for outreach purposes, to such an effect that the Council now hires it back from them for conferences! He had many similar stories!

The President’s visit to Caversham Heights was to celebrate the centenary of its Methodist church, so his main message was that this was an occasion for looking forward rather than for looking back! He told of his recent visit to preach at the 200th Anniversary of a Methodist chapel in East Anglia where he was humbled to learn that its first preacher had been ‘the Father of Methodist Missions’, the Revd Thomas Coke, who became the first Methodist Bishop (in America).

So, looking towards the next 100 years in Caversham and Reading, Stephen Poxon said that the Methodist Movement could not be confined within church walls. But it needs firm foundations, unlike all the buildings he had seen completely destroyed by a tsunami in the Solomon Islands. It also needs flexible walls, to allow for growth, and even more flexible stones (people) so that when people fall down they do not hurt themselves but bounce back again with new life. The collection taken during the service amounted to just over £300 for the Methodist Relief and Development Fund that gives emergency aid to the poorest of the poor in the world, in places like Bangladesh, whose relief work the President had described in his address.

'Difficult to keep it going'

When my husband died in the year 2000 the family set up a charity in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in his memory. He himself had found it difficult to gain higher education and he took a keen interest in the work that our daughter was doing in ho chi Minh City.

'Vuon Len', which means 'making the effort to succeed in spite of adversity', was opened in June 2002 with the aim of providing free skills training to young people who have no means of finding the necessary fees for skills training.

Each course lasts for 6 months and equips normally ten trainees with the skills they need to be able to find work in hairdressing salons and to make extra money as freelance manicurists. The apprentices complete their course with a good understanding of how a salon should be run. They invariably leave 'Vuon Len' better-groomed than when they arrived, exhilarated by all they have achieved and with tangible hopes for their futures. Most of the former apprentices are now settled in stable hairdressing jobs, a number of simple salons have been set up, both in the city suburbs and the countryside, thanks to the skills learnt at 'Vuon Len', and there has been a very significant trickle-down effect with former trainees teaching their relatives and friends.

Today I thought I would share with you the latest e-mail from my daughter, Sheila, which tells you how difficult it can be to keep small charities going. She wrote,
"Just this week we've had the bombshell that ₤800 has to be paid by the end of May, ₤400 immediately, for a compulsory Environment Protection Certificate, which has suddenly become obligatory for all state-approved premises first, to be extended to other premises later, without which the premises will be forced to close. These sudden demands for money are typical and this time it seems to be to help pay for the massive cost of replacing all the city's waste water pipes with larger ones to try to solve the flooding problem ( the photo was the other day ). They are currently doing the pipes in front of my house. They work from 8pm to 5am so it's very difficult to sleep, and for months there have been terrible traffic jams as everyone tries to get past the roadworks all over the place.

The environment certification is a long process which has to be begun immediately to meet the deadline before the forced closure in case of failure to comply. Environment inspectors will keep coming to do tests on the waste water. Yesterday was the deadline for the first payment and I managed to find enough as it is very difficult to envisage closure when there are young people counting on VL for their futures, eager to study and who understand nothing about environment certificates.
But it's so difficult to keep it going."

So we have been very grateful for the support of the Tanner Trust and, in the beginning, the Chic Salon in Jersey. If you are interested to read more about Vuon Len, please go to www.vuonlen.org.uk where you can see photos and case histories of the apprentices who have been trained.