The man shook as he told us his story of persecution: we could see the scars on his head and his hands. Another man in the group flinched as someone he didn’t know came into the room. I promised him “You will always be safe here.”  A woman cried as she told me how, as an out and proud Christian lesbian, she had been told she could not become a member of the church that she had been attending for months. “I am so glad to be back here” she said. A charity that works with children hired a room in the building we use, to run an event for LGBT people interested in adoption – “Because we saw you at Pride and thought this would be a good space to hold our event.” These three things all happened in the past month at MCC Newcastle. They are part of what we do, week in, week out. We offer hope and light to our community and beyond. Often it is in small, unseen ways – small gestures of kindness and compassion, such as the regular donations of clothing that people give to the West End Refugee Service. Sometimes we are able to bring hope at big events like Pride and World AIDS Day. People who may never worship with us follow us online and through social media. We are observed at a distance by many individuals, who may turn to us when life changes for them and they need a safe place to be.

A good while ago Mikee preached on Micah 6:8: What does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. He suggested that at MCC Newcastle we are good at walking humbly with God – our worship is excellent and we offer many ways to go deeper in our spiritual life. He challenged us to really step up and step out in acting justly and loving mercy. This message has stayed with me and has continued to challenge me ever since. How do we move out beyond our church walls and how do we make it easier for groups to see us as a resource to support them in what they do?

This year’s Annual Congregational Meeting marks a key moment in our response to the challenge to love mercy and to act justly. The Board is proposing only two aims, which will help us to put our faith into action. Firstly, we are now ready to start looking for our own building, choosing a venue that is better suited to our needs and that will give us the flexibility to develop our ministries more fully. Secondly, we are going to focus on developing activities that intentionally reach out and serve those beyond our church walls.  We are called to bring hope and light. This is our time.

God bless

Cecilia    

This month’s worship theme at MCC Newcastle is “Back to the Future”. We are considering how our history is helping to shape our future, especially when it comes to generosity. At Worship team meetings, it is a real process of discernment to come up with each new worship theme. There is often quite a lot of discussion to and fro, and often several different versions of the theme title and content, until all the team really feel as though we have the right idea. I was pretty unsure about “Back to the Future” and how it connected with such topics as harvest, ministry teams and Fellowship Sunday. Someone in the team explained “Well, think about harvest. Someone had to sow the seeds in the past, so that we can harvest the crop in the present and make use of it in the future – back to the future.” Fair enough – that was me on board.

Sowing seeds – that is what this month is all about really. Obviously there is harvest, the easiest one to make the connection with. All the ministry teams have started off as “an idea waiting to be born”. Some are still in seed form, others are still maturing, some are well established. Next week we celebrate Fellowship Sunday and take up an offering to fund the networks, groups of MCCs supporting and connecting with each other. The final Sunday is looking at us sowing the seeds for our future – what is God calling MCC Newcastle to do and to be in the months and years ahead?

In all of these Sunday themes, there is the underlying message about celebrating our generosity. The food we collected at the Harvest service went to the People’s Kitchen. It is through the generosity of people giving their time and talents in ministry that we have so much going on at church each week. The offering we give for Fellowship Sunday will really make a difference in keeping MCCs around the world in touch with each other.

And what about the future? Not long ago, the Board asked everyone in the church to consider increasing their giving, or to start to give via standing order or giving envelope. This was so we could cover the budget that was agreed at the Annual Congregational Meeting in April. It is also about something more. It is about sowing those seeds for our future. And guess what? Together we are doing it. Financial giving has increased and we will meet our budget. We can do the things we wanted to do, to help us build for the future. Every little helps and whatever you have been able to give has made a difference. Thank you for your continued generosity, in so many ways.

God bless

Cecilia

 This month’s worship theme “The Gospel according to Cuthbert” is fascinating. In fact, the Christian history of the North East is amazing. It is also generally a well kept secret. I have been quite taken aback by the number of folk who have lived in the NE all their lives and know very little about what is around them. 

Aidan, Cuthbert, Hilda, Bede, Wilfrid…. There is quite a list of saints whose lives strongly influenced the development of the Christian faith in this region and way beyond. The Venerable Bede, famous resident of Jarrow, did much to influence thinking about nature and science, as well as theology and history. 

What is stunning about Bede is that he barely travelled at all. He was moved between the monasteries at Jarrow and Monkwearmouth, depending on the needs of the community. He never got to Rome or to visit any of the great seats of academic learning. He was content to be where he was and do what he was called to do in that place. Bede’s World is definitely worth a visit if you would like to know more…. 

Recently, I led a workshop called ”Bible Basics”. It was aimed at those of us who don’t know our bibles well at all, and may even find scripture quite intimidating. We started the day playing “Bible Snap”, just to get our heads around the names of the many different names of the books in the Bible. 

By the end of the afternoon, people who had been nervous about the Bible at the beginning of the day were finding their way around concordances, commentaries and dictionaries to help them to understand and interpret a passage of scripture. It was fabulous! 

The famous saints of the North East, and around the world were ordinary people who did extraordinary things. None of them were born knowing all there is to know about God, or prayer, or scripture. Every single one of them had to spend time learning, studying, questioning and listening to God. 

We are no different. We are not going to go deeper in prayer, or become more knowledgeable about the Bible unless we put the time and effort in. God is always there, waiting to touch us, guide us, love us. We just need to be willing to give God some time in our lives. Bible Snap anyone? 

God bless 

We have started our new worship theme “Honest to God”, which takes us on a journey through the Psalms. How easy is it for us to be “honest to God?” Sometimes, I forget that God knows me through and through, knows my resting and my rising. I try and hide a bit of myself or only give half the story in my prayer time. Of course, I end up laughing at myself and assume that God is laughing too.  I remember that I can’t hide anything from the Divine, and just trying to show my best bits is an exercise in futility. God knows me through and through and loves me anyway. 
 
Being honest with myself is perhaps what I need to work harder on. I turned 50 on my last birthday and this has been a significant event for me. Life still has all sorts of adventures to offer and yet I can only reach out and enjoy these if I am
realistic about what I can and cannot do. (If I choose to train for the Great North run, I can do, but I doubt that I will come in first!)  I also need to really decide what I really want to do. (probably not train for the Great North Run!)

What does it mean to be fully honest with ourselves and with God? Acknowledging all our good points, strengths, gifts and talents. Loving our bodies – we are each only given one. Acknowledging all our weaknesses, frailties, patterns of unhealthy behaviour. Once we have named and acknowledged all of these things, we can ask God what we are to do with them. How are we to use our gifts and our strengths to live well in God? How are we to be kind to ourselves in our weaknesses and avoid the situations that activate our own harmful behaviour?

Recently I have been rediscovering things that I used to love and had forgotten about. All through my childhood, I spent time on the Derbyshire moors. A couple of weekends
ago I drove up to Edinburgh through the Northumbrian countryside and rediscovered the beauty of that wild type of landscape.  Now I plan to spend some time walking in those hills, recapturing that love of being in nature.

This week, let us try being honest to God and honest with ourselves – we are held in Divine Love, so we have nothing to lose.

 God bless,

Cecilia

Every six weeks or so, I spend a day at St. Antony’s Priory in Durham, for a day of quiet reflection. During this time, I also meet with my Spiritual Director for about an hour. The role of a Spiritual Director, or Faith Companion, is to help us see where God is, in the midst of our everyday lives.

In worship this Sunday, we will be reflecting on our Bedrock Belief about God:

At MCC Newcastle, we believe:

God is always present. God loves and
accepts everyone unconditionally.

Sometimes the presence of God is easy to feel – we are at peace with God and feel God’s presence close by. Sometimes though, life is hard or busy, or just very mundane. It is not clear where the Divine is; we might even feel that God has abandoned us completely. At these times, we need to rely on our previous experience of God, or rely on the faith of others in whom we trust.

It is important to remember that we experience God in different ways at different times. Being able to identify and
name that may help us to feel God more fully.

When my partner Monica was struggling with cancer, I felt God’s presence as blessing, through the people who supported us, and grace, in the way that Monica and I each coped with our situation. Now, as I learn to live without her
and go through the grieving process, I experience God through the process of healing.

Just as St Antony’s is a great place for me to really have time to be with God, each person has their own way of “tuning in” to God’s presence – music, nature, being creative, just being still and silent. There is no right or wrong way – just the way that helps us to really feel the Divine.

This week, try and find some time to do what helps you connect with the God who is always there and always loves you.

God bless,

Cecilia