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Open in new tab Issue 11 • Spring 2018
Sharing
testimonies
Inspiring stories from the life of your Methodist Church
John 4:39, NRSV
Issue 11 • Spring 2018
“Many Samaritans from that
city believed in him because
of the woman’s testimony.”
he Bible encourages us to see that
each of us has a story to tell of
the difference that Jesus makes to
our lives. The woman at the well in John 4
could have kept quiet about her encounter
with Jesus, but because she didn’t, a whole
community was transformed and blessed
from within. She had great and wonderful
news to share and so she spoke about it in
ways that enabled others to accept it and
own it as their truth too.
Testimony has the power to be persuasive,
convincing and unsettling.
When someone speaks honestly
and openly from the heart about their
experiences, we are asked to take such
deeply personal stories on trust. This is
someone’s truth and they have taken the risk
to voice it and share it with no guarantee of
how it will be received. That takes courage.
It also takes a conviction that others will
benefit from and be encouraged by what is
said. Across the world the hashtags #MeToo
and #Timesup have demonstrated the raw
power of testimony to persuade, convince
and unsettle on a scale and with a speed
that is truly breathtaking. The amazing and
irreversible cultural paradigm shift that
we are living through as a result owes its
genesis to the brave testimony of women
and men who chose to speak out.
From the first days of Jesus’ ministry to
Easter and Pentecost and beyond, we see the
same power of honest and open testimony
gathering pace and breaking out against
the odds. So changed and transformed are
they by their experiences of Jesus that the
men and women who followed him have a
passion to tell others. The wildfire of Holy
Spirit-fuelled testimony that results lights up
the known world. Ordinary people choosing to
speak up and speak out were the essential
sparks that lit the fires of conversion which
birthed Christianity as a global movement.
Testimony is just as much an essential
aspect of our evangelism and mission today
as it was in the time of the first Easter
and Pentecost. So how might you and your
church need to be persuaded, convinced and
unsettled?
Above all, might you be encouraged to
share your testimony to the good news of
Jesus in your life?
Love and peace, David
Published by the Methodist Church in Britain
© Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
(TMCP) 2018. Registered charity no. 1132208.
Designed and produced by the Publishing
and Communications Team of the Methodist
Church. Design: Stephen Lambert. Editorial:
Anne Montefiore and Helen Angove. Digital:
David Webster. Director of Publishing and
Communications: Andy Jackson.
Editorial board: David Perry, Anne Montefiore,
Andy Jackson, Doug Swanney (Connexional
Secretary), Martin Ashford (Head of Mission
and Advocacy Cluster).
The article about Ablewell Advice in issue 10,
pages 12-13, was written by Deborah Wills.
Photo credits
Cover © David Perry; Pages 4-5 © Mark Kensett;
Pages 6-7 © TMCP and John Rylands Library;
Pages 8-9 © Zoe Crewdson; Pages 10-12 © David
Perry, Cliff College and Getty Images; Page 13 ©
Alex Baker/TMCP and TimE Photography; Pages
14-15 © Matt Gonzalez-Noda and Getty Images;
Pages 16-17 © Mark Kensett; Pages 18-19 ©
Mark Kensett; Pages 20-21 © Andy Fishburne,
Bunmi Olayisade and Getty images; Pages 22-23
© Rachel Ryan Photography; Pages 24-25 © Jenny
Dyer and Mark Kensett; Pages 26-27 © David
Perry; Pages 28-29 © Queens Foundation; Page 32
© Matt Gonzalez-Noda and Getty Images
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the connexion • Spring 2018 www.methodist.org.uk • Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Flickr | Google+ Highlights
4
We all love
a good story
10
Honest responses
Called to share
13
16
God in the pain
20
An island blessed
by the Spirit
26
Investing in the
kingdom
Thy Kingdom Come
ethodist presbyters have
contributed to Thy Kingdom
Come, the global prayer
initiative prompting people to pray
between Ascension and Pentecost
10-20 May 2018 that more people
might know Jesus.
The Revd Catherine Dixon has written
Resources for Prayer and Worship. These
include prayer pointers, prayers from past
Methodist Prayer Handbooks, an outline
for prayer and an Order of Service.
In this copy of the connexion is
Waiting in Wonder by the Revd Michaela
Youngson, President-Designate and
Chair of the London District. These
nine days of prayer include reflections
on Scripture and paintings from the
Methodist Modern Art Collection.
Both items are available from
www.thykingdomcome.global
#Pledge2Pray #thykingdomcome
A Brave New World? Living a faithful life in
a time of change
early 300 people representing Methodist, Baptist, Church
of Scotland and the URC denominations, gathered at
Methodist Central Hall, Manchester, on Saturday 17 March
for the annual Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) conference.
The conference informed, equipped and inspired Christians
to tackle social injustice locally, nationally and internationally.
Attendees began with worship and prayer before the keynote
session featuring Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, and
Peter Oborne, political journalist for the Daily Mail, who took part in
a passionate discussion on the state of modern political discourse,
climate change and their hopes for the future.
Methodist podcasts
odcasts allow listeners to download audio content on
to their smart phone or device to listen to wherever and
whenever they like. On the Methodist Church website you
can find a wide range of podcasts including The Legacy of Charles
Wesley where the Revd Dr Jonathan Hustler, Assistant Secretary of
the Methodist Conference, offers reflections on Charles Wesley, 230
years since his death. You will also find two Parliamentary Interns
from the Joint Public Issues Team talk to leading politicians in their
podcast Faith In Politics. www.methodist.org.uk/podcasts
3
www.methodist.org.uk • Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Flickr | Google+ the connexion • Spring 2018 Having experienced the impact
of sharing testimony as minister
of New Silksworth and St
John’s Methodist Churches in
Sunderland, Kathryn Stephens
reflects on the importance of
telling our stories
ho doesn’t love a good story?
There’s a reason why the soaps
on television are so popular.
We love a gripping story – getting to know
characters and seeing the interaction and
intersection of their lives. In spare moments
I like to find a coffee shop, ‘set up camp’
and read a book because, well, who doesn’t
love a good story? And if cake’s involved
too, that’s even better!
Much of our Bible comes from
storytelling: the oral tradition of passing
the stories from one to another down the
generations. Recently one of the churches
I serve welcomed groups of children from
the local school to come and hear some
of the stories of Jesus’ life. We had a truly
wonderful time.
Sharing our stories
Within the Methodist tradition telling our
stories, or sharing testimony, has played a
necessary role in the life of the Church.
The early Methodists were taught to give
testimony and would speak of their own
discipleship journeys and how they were
encountering God in their daily lives. This
came as encouragement and challenge
to those listening, but also built up those
who were doing the sharing as they looked
for and acknowledged God at work in their
lives.
My own story of faith comes from a
place of testimony. I committed myself to
following Jesus after having heard a group
of Cliff College students talk about their
experiences of God with such honest,
integrity-filled passion that it left me wanting
to know this God they not only spoke of,
but knew. In that moment I realised I knew
of God, while they knew God – and through
their testimony I was challenged to journey
with Christ and experience the Holy Spirit in
my own life. Sharing testimony does make
new disciples.
Telling our stories is hugely important and
when done carefully, sensitively, honestly
and boldly it has a great impact. As we
share what’s going on in our lives, we can
speak of how we sometimes wrestle with
our faith, how we experience Jesus, how we
journey over the mountain tops and dark
valleys of life and how we join in the work of
the Holy Spirit in our own lives and contexts.
These are real stories of real people and
a real God. They don’t need to be dressed
up, overdramatised and embellished;
indeed it would be quite wrong if they
were. Sharing the grittiness of our stories
can be autobiography at its best. Rooted,
In that moment
I realised
I knew of God
while they knew God
4
the connexion • Spring 2018 www.methodist.org.uk • Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Flickr | Google+ include tales of walking paths of joy and
celebration and of travelling painful roads
of deep sadness and loss. This may seem
simplistic and obvious – for which I make no
apology – but we journey these roads with
God as our companion. Bearing testimony
to this can be profoundly life-giving to each
other.
Be encouraged by the testimonies you
read in this issue of the connexion; be
challenged and remember that your story
matters – yours might just be the testimony
someone needs to hear. So be bold… tell it!
Spirit-led sharing can show a strength-filled
vulnerability which draws anyone listening
into the ‘story’ and offers an invitation to
think about the experiences of life and living
and the work of God in our midst.
Using testimony
Recently in the Sunderland Methodist
Circuit, we spent some time thinking about
the place of testimony. We recognised
that the use of testimony had somewhat
diminished over the years and the Church
was poorer for it. Consequently we pledged
to try and raise the profile of testimony
and especially encourage our preachers to
consider inviting people to give testimony
in church services. There were some
deeply encouraging stories that came back
from this intentional move to regain our
confidence in the use of testimony. For me,
this certainly came into focus as several
new members took up the invitation to
tell their own stories at their membership
service. The church was buzzing afterwards
about how uplifting and challenging it had
been to hear these words.
We all have a story
It may be a cliché, but we all have a story
to tell. Your story, like mine, will probably
How might you use
testimony in your
circuit and church?
5
www.methodist.org.uk • Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Flickr | Google+ the connexion • Spring 2018