Weekly notices 16th January

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Those who were at the Commissioning Service for the Morecambe Ministry Team, may be wondering what is going on, 

and who does what. Well, I hope that these few words will make things a bit clearer. 

There are now two teams within the Morecambe section, the Morecambe Ministry Team 

and, the Future of Methodism in Morecambe Team, and they have two very different roles. 

The Morecambe Ministry Team: has been formed to share the pastoral care among the fellowships in Morecambe. 

The pastoral visitors of the three Churches, still form the vital link between the fellowship and me as your minister. 

The ministry team allows a faster response to the needs of people across the section. 

Therefore, the Reverend Andrew Champley, Sister Vivien Ward and Susan Wilson have been invited to share responsibility of pastoral care across the section. 

One of the comments that I have heard is that, “There is no representative from Wesley on this group.” 

That is true, but this is a caring team, and not a planning team, therefore, Rev Andrew is key for Bare, Sister Vivien for Torrisholme, and Susan for Wesley, as she has good links there already. 

These folks will be operating as and when required; they are there to ensure that pastoral care happens across the section.

The Future of Methodism in Morecambe (FMM): I understand this is not a new team and has been around for some time. 

It has been a group of  talk and no action. We  know from our own Churches, that the number of members is declining and, with aging congregations,this is likely to continue as things stand.Therefore, FMM is tasked with looking at the Cluster of Methodist Churches in Morecambe and ask, “What can we do together, and are there things that we can do to help the Churches to grow both spiritually and numerically?” This is a huge task; and will not resolve itself overnight.

However, we need to recognise:

• that we need to work and minister together across the whole of Morecambe. 
• that the days when there were ten Methodist Churches in Morecambe, most with their own minister, have gone,  Being a Cluster of three Churches, it gives an amazing opportunity to pool resources and work together for the whole of the Methodist Church in Morecambe. 

Remember when Paul wrote his letters to the Churches he wrote, “To the church of God in Corinth,” or “To the churches in Galatia,” and even, “To the saints in Ephesus.” Paul didn’t write to individual Churches, but to the whole Church in one region, In our case he would write, “To the saints in Morecambe.” 

The FMM team has at least two representatives from each of our three Churches; we have met via Zoom so far over lockdown, but we are hoping to meet together in person soon. The representatives should be reporting back to their own fellowship, what we are talking about and planning. 

On the horizon, the Eden Project will be coming to Morecambe, as the drama “The Bay,” has increased visitor numbers, These will bring new opportunities for all the Churches.   

The early Church gathered, “With glad and sincere hearts,”

 it is my prayer, that the devotion of the early Church may be a catalyst for growth in Morecambe. 

I look forward to sharing this journey with you.