Sunday 17th March

I missed the Bible Study at Church on Monday evening because I was at a school governors meeting.  I went early for a short meeting with the bursar who wanted some advice on school finances before the main meeting got underway. It is a privilege to be able to be involved in the leadership of schools, they have such an important role in the lives of young people.

I was at the local primary school on Tuesday morning to take the assembly, the teacher who plays for the songs was out of school so there was more time for the story.  One young girl came to me after the assembly to ask if I had been at the Pentecostal church last Wednesday, she had seen me going in from her drama club which meets in the church.  At the Junior Youth Club several of the children came to say that they had enjoyed the story at the assembly which gave me opportunities to talk some more with them.  I took the children outside for the first time this year to play in the floodlit garden, I was well wrapped up and kept sending children back in to get their coats if they weren’t.  One of my "little friends” came up to talk to me as I watched the children play and then slipped his hand in my while he stood beside me, it is such a wonderful thing these days to have a child show such trust and such a responsibility. 
I was in trouble from my wife for taking the children outside because they had trailed mud when they had gone in so I had to do great penance sweeping the hall, passage and vestry to get up the mud.  That occupied much of my time during the Senior Youth Club.

The Wednesday evening prayer meeting was a great blessing both in the time of prayer and in the fellowship we enjoyed afterwards, we thanked God for the privilege He gives us in being part of His work and remembered that He is in control. 

Our practice at the Community choir on Thursday evening was something of a mixed bag, we seemed to do well with some of the pieces that we sing but we struggled on others, our choirmaster Carl seemed to get exasperated at times we were making such mistakes but we ended on a good note.

On Friday evening my wife, Anita, and our son, David, travelled to Leicestershire where we stayed overnight prior to taking him to an open day at the Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College, which he has applied to attend.  It was impressive to see the facilities to learn of the ethos and achievements of the college so we will have to see whether David is offered a place.  On the way home we travelled close to the home of Anita’s sister so we met up with her and her family for lunch, a chance to catch up with them and to see our great niece, Miya.

We were thin on the ground at our home church on Sunday morning, there were only 19 present whereas we normally average ten more than that.  Illness and other responsibilities meant that there were those missing which was a shame, my fellow Minister at the Church, Sheila Heron, preached a challenging message which the whole Church would have done well to hear.  Indeed it is a message that many other churches would benefit from hearing.  I got carried away singing one of the hymns, I added some "Praise the Lords” in the chorus as we used to in Christian Endeavour meetings and at Rallies which cause some amusement among my children and the young people who sit in front of me.  

In the evening I was preaching at our Ryhope IM Church, approaching it I first saw a moving illuminated display with the church name inviting people to the service.  The Church was celebrating its 136th Church anniversary so it was a privilege to share with them on this important day in the life of their church and to pass on to them the greetings of the other Churches in the Connexion.  The Church uses technology for notices, Bible readings and hymns and before the service there was a display of photographs from earlier years on the digital projector.  It was good to share with this faithful congregation on their special day and to join in singing God’s praises which were accompanied by both organ and guitar.

If you would like to get in touch for whatever reason
you can contact me by e-mail at president@imcgb.org.uk
or by writing to me at my home address.