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

One of the challenging aspects of my life as an MCC clergyperson is trying to explain to others, including family, about how our system works around pastoral
positions. Metropolitan Community Church operates a “call system” – that is, the individual clergyperson spends time in discernment and prayer about whether God is calling them to stay in a position or calling them to move. Congregations
spend time in discernment and prayer about whom they need to call as their pastor. This model is used by other churches too. However many denominations use
a system where the bishop or other senior leader, in consultation with the individual and congregation, makes these decisions.  Sometimes I think people imagine I can just turn up at any church (regardless of denomination) in any location and just become the pastor!

Call is also not about career progression or personal advancement. A colleague of mine says her family despair at her “downwardly mobile” lifestyle. Whilst they think she should be looking for bigger and better, she listens to the voice of God, asking her to serve in all sorts of different ways, which don’t give job stability or a company pension scheme.

In MCC around the world, we believe in “the priesthood of all believers” – that is, every single person has a call on their lives. God is inviting each and every one of us to be active in ministry. Some people answer this call through their job or through voluntary work. Many answer it through participation in their faith community. No call is better or more important than another. When we used to worship in the church hall, I used to joke that it didn’t matter how great my sermon was, no-one would be listening if the set up team hadn’t put the chairs out!

One of the real joys in my ministry is to sit and listen as individuals in our faith community discern their call. It is wonderful to see them grow into a role, and they become more confident and experienced, to expand that call in different ways. Our call often extends from the things that we find we are most passionate about, and then we use our gifts and skills to live out our passion and answer
our call.

When was the last time you really sat and listened to see if you are really following the call that God has placed on your heart?

Imagine what blessings might await you if do.

God bless,

Cecilia
 

In 2010, we went through a discernment process at MCC Newcastle called “Harvest for our Future”. We concentrated on a few questions and held “vision parties” and other ways of making sure that everyone who wanted to, could contribute to the discussion. One of the questions was “What you value about MCC Newcastle?” Out of the answers to this question, we developed our Core Values, which you can find on the fantastic postcards and badges that we use for outreach.  

One of the other questions that we asked was “What will MCC Newcastle be like in 10 years time?” From the answers to this question, the Board drew up a list of key aims to guide us in our planning from 2010 – 2015. Each year at the ACM, the Board has put forward actions for approval by the Members of the church, based on these key aims. This year will be no different.

At the recent Saturday Seminar, we discussed the Church Size Summit and the recommendations for progress made by our Elder, Reverend Elder Darlene Garner. 

We compared her recommendations with the 5 year key aims that we have been following as a congregation. Guess what? They were very similar. This is really positive because it means that we are about ready to take the next steps in our growth as a faith community.

One of our five year aims is:

This was also one of Darlene’s main recommendations to us. We love being based at St James’s, and it is also time to start looking for a new home. This will take time, finances and above all, a great deal of prayer. Please keep this exciting vision in your prayers. The seeds that we sowed in 2010 are beginning to germinate into a “Harvest for our Future”.

God bless,

 Cecilia

The Church Size Summit is nearly upon us!
 
“What is that?” I hear you ask!

MCC Newcastle is hosting a two day training conference on 8th and 9th February. MCCers from many of our UK churches, as well as from Germany and even New Zealand will be attending. Many of you kindly completed the congregational survey which will give our Elder, Reverend Elder Darlene Garner, valuable information about your church experience.

The Board and I also completed several other surveys, based on our roles and different aspects of our church life together, such as stewardship (looking after all our resources wisely), leadership, our policies and other documents, the different activities and events that we offer.

The Church Size Summit will be an opportunity for us to learn about different sizes of churches and how they need to function, in order to best serve God and God’s people. During the two days, Darlene will give us specific feedback from the MCC Newcastle surveys we submitted and those of us attending the CSS will develop an action plan for MCC Newcastle, based on her recommendations. 
 
All of this process needs to be “bathed in prayer”. The two Elders leading the event, Darlene and Rev. Elder Dr. Mona West, are preparing their work for us. They will need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in discerning what to learn from the many surveys from the different churches that are gathering. Those of us who are attending need to arrive in good order and be willing to hear what we need to learn – even if it feels a bit uncomfortable or challenging. We also need to rejoice in the many positive things about our ministry that we will also hear and hopefully get a real sense of what God is calling us to do and be over the next year or more.

MCC Newcastle is hosting this event because of the excellent welcome, hospitality and technical support we offer. Prayers are needed for the many people who will
volunteer of their time and talents leading up to and during this weekend, to make it a great success for all the churches involved and for the Elders too. 

Please keep us all in prayer, as we lead up to the Church Size Summit.
 
Let’s make it fabulous and beautiful!

God bless,

Cecilia