There are plenty of signs of hope at Raunds Methodist Church.
Literally that it is the case with the new signs that Les has been organising. The latest (that makes 4 so far) is a huge banner advertising the re:fresh services on Sunday afternoons.
However, there are plenty of other signs too. Jane has gone to the first meeting of the cell group tonight. The whole town will be unable to avoid seeing the signs of hope that will be part of the Christmas programme.
We had a meeting on Monday and it was a delight to be with a team who were so fired up with ideas and plans for Christmas. You can read about some of the technical details in my earlier post Christmas Planning. But the really exciting things were not technical, instead the whole meeting was filled with a buzz. If you have never been in a meeting where the Holy Spirit is in charge then it is very hard to explain (which is one reason why the Bible uses so much picture language).
I have said before that I love my job, but when you can be present in meetings like that it is even better than love ;-)
This job also has amazing privileges, only those who have been welcomed into families at their time of need will know what I mean. So far I have been with one family through hospital and now hospice and two others through bereavements and funerals.
But with all that I can't imagine how people manage to be ministers without the support networks and backup that a denomination like the Methodist Church can give. For example Paul, the district training officer is coming on Monday, I have a mentor appointed and I will meet him next week too. Oh and I start at Wesley House on Wednesday next week. (h'mm might be a busy week ;-)
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