From the Interim Moderator
As I write this letter the visit by a party from the church in Pirmasens, Germany is just past. It was an enjoyable if exhausting time that helped strengthen our links with fellow Christians in another country, reminding us that the body of Christ is world-wide. Ahead of us as I write, but probably past as you read this letter, is the Flower Festival which will probably widen our links in the local community, through people who wander in to view the floral arrangements. I hope too that it will be an opportunity to witness to what we stand for. A Christian Church should be more than just a social club; it should be a vibrant community of Christian believers, seeking to follow and to serve the risen Lord Jesus Christ because of what He has personally done for us. At this time when there is uncertainly as to whether we can retain our present Church building, it is important to maintain a very real Christian presence in the heart of this town, emphasising that Stowmarket needs more than good shops, it needs the Saviour who changes the lives of people.
On Saturday 10th July some of us are going to the Evangelism Day at Christ Church Braintree, arranged by our URC Eastern Synod, aimed at equipping local churches to engage more effectively with their communities. It is part of the preparation for the third year of Vision for Life, a programme encouraging local churches to engage more fully with the Bible, with prayer and with reaching out to others with the good news of the gospel of Jesus. We need already as a church to be making preparations for various kinds of evangelism in 2011, but we will only do so if we have clear biblical conviction that we have good news to share and are prayerfully seeking God's will as to how to reach our to the community around.
As a relative newcomer to this church I am conscious that there are probably many things going on of which I am unaware, but I have a general impression that Stowmarket URC is strong on social activities, but weaker on the three elements that Vision for Life has sought to emphasise, though they are a part of the total Church life. The current ministerial interregnum perhaps affords the opportunity to consider the parts of our Church life that need strengthening in the years ahead and how we should go about seeking to improve the weaker elements.
In writing this letter I have been particularly thinking of the Stowmarket congregation, but I hope that parts will also be relevant to the congregations in Debenham, Haughley, Mendlesham and Stowupland, in all of which I have had the opportunity of preaching during this past year.
Steve Campbell
Interim Moderator
Tel: 01284 787664
July 2010
- Previous Interim Moderator's letters:
- June 2010
- May 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- December 2009 / January 2010
- November 2009
- October 2009
- August 2009
- June 2009
- April 2009
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