Welcome
Welcome to the January Yorsay, I hope you have a peaceful and prosperous New Year. Please feel free to contribute to Yorsay during 2009. [Contact communications@yorkhullmethodist.org.uk ] Items to be received before the 25th of each Month.
I produce as much as possible of items but to save space and time downloading, some items will link you to the District Web site or other sites for fuller information. It would be nice to have stories from Churches either good or bad that we can let the rest of the District know about.
The Communications Office is closed from 23rd December 2008 to 5th January 2009 although during that time I will be monitoring the News and I can be contacted on my Mobile.
Yorsay is not only meant for those who receive it via thier e mail address it is hoped that at least one person in each church will copy it and make it available to All members of the congregation via notice boards or through church newsletters.
Christmas Message from the Methodist President
In his Christmas Message, the Revd Stephen Poxon, President of the Methodist Conference, calls for Christmas to be a time of hospitality towards strangers. Stephen highlights the work of local churches amongst asylum seekers and refugees and asks us to consider how welcome we make others feel.
Stephen says; 'This must be at the heart of who we are as church communities. We must become people who continually offer that hospitable space, within ourselves as well as our buildings, for God's love and grace that others may come among us and encounter Immanuel.'
The full text follows:
A night of hospitality
Christmas is the season of parties, family meals and special occasions with friends but it can be exhausting if you are the host all the time. As we listen to the Christmas story once again this year we hear that it was a night of hospitality - but who is the host?
The supernumeraries and their spouses and widows of the North Lancashire District are invited for a Christmas lunch each year. They are so grateful and often say things like ' it's so good of you to host us' but in honesty all we do is provide the space, the food and drink and then it just happens! That may be how the innkeeper rationalised offering the stable area with a manger to the holy family. As the host we'll never know if it was out of warm generosity or just a business transaction that resulted in them being pushed out of the way.
In Britain 100,000's of people come among us year by year from around the world. Many are migrant workers from eastern Europe, bringing their culture, faith and skills whilst others are people fleeing from persecution, war, seeking a better life for their children as asylum seekers and refugees. Time and again we hear that people want to come among us because of our hospitality; of our tolerance; our openness. How welcome do we make others feel?
Many churches are doing remarkable work among asylum seekers and refugees, with the homeless and others who feel on the edge of society. Yet there can often be a fear within us about those who are different and perhaps we might be tempted to want to push them out of the way, into the stable. As we see the landscape of our communities changing with the rich variety of people from across the world we must continue to discover ways to embrace and make everyone welcome, for each is a child of God, created in his own image. For when we meet any one we are meeting the Christ.
There was another hospitality that holy night. In a young frightened girl there is the hospitality of Mary whose willingness to receive the gift of God brings to birth the salvation of the world. We cannot begin to understand the fear, the shame, the bewilderment tinged with anticipation and even hope. Yet out of her 'yes' God became human and lived among us in Jesus...and since then there have been countless people who have said 'yes' to God.to welcome Christ into their lives.so he may find a resting place, a birthing place to continue God's living presence within the world.
This must be at the heart of who we are as church communities. We must become people who continually offer that hospitable space, within ourselves as well as our buildings, for God's love and grace that others may come among us and encounter Immanuel. We need to welcome all but especially discover ways to welcome the young, many who like Mary are frightened and trying to make sense out of what is happening to them and the world they inhabit.
Yet there is a further host on that holy night. Here is God hosting his own party, the birth of His son, His own coming among us. God, Immanuel, becoming human and living among us in Jesus.
In some of the carol services this year we will find everyone singing the soprano line with no descant and little harmony. We live in a world where there is little harmony with people at war, where people in Britain struggle with the beginnings of recession, where in the wider world there is an increasing poverty gap, people suffering from cholera, AIDS, hunger and countless injustices. As we hear again the song of the angels we catch a glimpse of creation in harmony with the Creator.as a child is born..God come among us.
God the eternal host is giving us a glimpse of eternity, of His Kingdom, where all are one and at peace and in harmony seen in the poverty of shepherds and the riches of magi; in the powerlessness of the secular authority of Herod and in the glory of the vulnerability of the weak and frightened. And in this moment, this holy, eternal moment we hear the eternal host welcome us..
'To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.'
The message is also be available online as an audio file. Visit
http://www.yorkhullmethodist.org.uk/news.php
or
http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.webradio.
The Methodist Church Snaith and Selby Circuit
An exciting and new opportunity for a full-time
Youth and Family worker
to work in a forward looking circuit as part of a dynamic team.
To start as soon as possible
We are looking for someone who
Ø is able to communicate and share their Christian faith with young people and families
Ø likes being part of a team
Ø is well motivated
Ø is able to inspire others
Ø is wanting to explore and create new initiatives
Ø can support existing work
Salary: £15,330 - £19,605
For further information and an application form
Contact: Tony Service 01757 707530 email:- secretary@snaithselbymethodist.org.uk
Closing Date for applications 10th February 2009
Churches Together in All Lincolnshire
FACILITATOR - 30 hours/week
The purpose of this new post is to support the mission of the church in Lincolnshire by facilitating the work of CTAL. You will be lay or ordained and have the administrative and interpersonal skills to support the activities of CTAL. Salary: £20,000 pro rata.
Details can be found at www.ctal.org.uk or e-mail office@ctal.org.uk
Closing date: 9th January 2009
Interview date: 19th or 20th January 2009 (tbc)
New Hymn Resource
Public consultation has begun
The Methodist Church's Music Resource Group has been working to prepare a new collection of hymns and songs to present to the Methodist Conference in 2009. The first shortlist of items for inclusion is now available for public comment and you are encouraged to make your views known. Please visit www.methodist.org.uk/newhymnbook to see the list and to post your responses online. The list also appears in the 4 December issue of the Methodist Recorder. The shortlist can be downloaded as PDF files both thematically arranged (320KB) and alphabetically arranged (130KB), and of course can then be searched electronically by using the Search or Find Text function in your PDF reader.
The shortlist is currently incomplete with 702 items, including 294 from Hymns and Psalms. The final list will consist of approximately 800 items. Responses are requested by 31 January 2009. They will be collated at Methodist Church House and evaluated by the Revd Brian Hoare who will give an independent view of the collection.
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UK Methodism needs you!
Modern day Methodism is being shaped in front of our very eyes and we are all being asked to help shape it....
This includes exciting and engaging young people (District Youth Enablers), commenting on what hymns should be in the latest Methodist Hymn Collection and considering the role of the President and Vice President in serving 21st Century Britain.
(I have a wee paragraph about each beneath)
Like Buses, these three things came along at once and they were of such significant importance that they were worth highlighting.
To finish with, a simple message ...
Whatever you do, wherever you go, whoever you are with - we wish you a relaxing, reflective and inspiring festive period. One baby has inspired generations to take action and declare a message of peace, love and joy to all. May you find a way to re-engage with the message and go into next year with joy in your heart.
Warm Regards
John Cooper
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a) District Youth Enablers
Are you between the ages of 16-23, passionate about the Methodist church and wanting to make a difference (Or do you know people who are!?);
The applications for District Youth Enablers (Paid part-time post) have now been extended until the 5th of January. If you want to know more please watch this video, email the Youth President, Sarah Malik, at youthpresident@methodistchurch.org.uk.
http://www.yorkhullmethodist.org.uk/news.php?id=56
b) The Methodist Hymn Book is seen by many as a definitive statement of both the breadth and depth of Methodist Theology. A new one will come out soon and the tentative list of inclusions is out - so get reading and pass comment! [See Above]
c) The President and Vice-President of Conference are elected annually and take a lead in spreading the Methodist story to the wider world. The scope, length and detail of their role (we're talking principles not personalities I hasten to add!) are up for debate so read the paper and have your say - how do you want your leaders to represent and respond to you?
http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=2507
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Coffee Mornings
in aid of Methodist Relief and Development Fund
Everybody is welcome to the Chair's Manse for the
opportunity to get together, see the new District Office and support MRDF
You may join us on any of the following dates, between 10 am and noon, but we are hoping that friends from the
following Circuits might consider these dates:
Saturday 14th February Pocklington & Market
Weighton, Beverley, Driffield,
Bridlington
Saturday 7th March York Circuits, Snaith & Selby, Tadcaster, Goole
Bring and buy table available - including any(reasonably) new paperbacks
The Significance of Food
The issue of food has appeared in the headlines recently in a way not seen for some time. Undoubtedly prices have risen, in some cases very fast, especially in other parts of the world. So what is going on, and what might a Christian response be?
There are many factors converging at the present and the situation is complex but let us put things in context. Over the last 30 years we have enjoyed falling food prices. OECD figures for the early 1970's show that the world wheat price was 600 $US per tonne and rice at 1,400$US per tonne. This is in contrast to the recent peak of 250$Us per tonne for wheat and 400$US for rice. Many economists predict that commodity prices will fall back and continue to fall over the long term.
Price rises in commodities over the last year were steep with wheat rising by 130% and rice by 74% but this was from a comparatively low base. That is not to minimise the problem that such rises cause, particularly to the poorest who spend proportionately more of their income on food. However for the average UK household the proportion of income spent on food has fallen over the last 50 years from 33% of average income to 9%.
The recent hike in food prices is due to many factors, including the rising cost of oil, speculation on the commodities market in view of the volatility of the dollar, a decrease in world food reserves and the rise in use of bio-fuels; rising population and changing eating habits. Discussion of the trading practices around food commodities is beyond the competence of the author but trading one of the essentials of life, food on the futures market does raise ethical questions about who is making the profit on such transactions and what this activity does to the final price paid by the consumer.
Agriculture in the developed world is very dependent on oil not only to drive machinery but to manufacture fertilisers and other agrochemicals. If, as many think, we have reached peak oil production then this cost will continue to rise, having an impact on production costs. Scarcity of oil will mean developing new ways of growing food which are less dependent on these chemicals. The pressure to grow more food will increase in order to feed a growing population.
At present the world population stands at about 6 billion but this is projected to rise to 9 billion by 2050. As living standards rise across the world so will the demand for different foods such as meat. For example in 1980 the Chinese consumed 20kg of meat per capita; this rose to 50kg per capita in 2007. Increased demand for meat could lead to an increase in growing feed wheat. Whilst a vegetarian diet produces energy more efficiently, how can we deny other people the kind of diet we have taken for granted for so long? Some land will not support the production of cereals, and areas such as the uplands are dependent on meat production so the answer is not necessarily either/ or but both/ and.
We only have so much land and some of it is at risk from degradation and most of that which can be farmed is being farmed; so some of the big dilemmas will occur around land use. In this country land is used in three main ways; food, fuel, and fun (leisure).
The use of land for leisure has seen an increase for example, in the right to roam and various environmental measures to ensure an attractive countryside for people to enjoy. Also in the review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) there was a decoupling of payments from production support to environmental schemes. This means that famers were no longer paid for what they produced but for the way they look after the land.
The USA and Europe have announced statutory targets for bio-fuel use. Self-evidently cereal grown to feed power stations, or to make bio-ethanol, uses land that cannot then be used to grow food. The Gallagher report released in July has called for a slowing down of bio-fuel use to ensure that the production is sustainable i.e. that it uses marginal and waste land. Also we need to develop second generation bio-fuels that will be more efficient and use technology such as bio-digesters which convert waste matter to energy.
The demographic changes we have mentioned mean that there is increasing pressure to grow more food. The World Bank estimates 'that cereal production needs to increase by 50% and meat production 80% between 2000 and 2030 to meet demand. But this will need to be achieved in a changing climate and in a world where natural resources - especially water - are becoming scarcer;'
That asks a lot of an industry which is viewed by many as being somehow peripheral. To produce even more food on the same amount of land with increasingly unsettled weather and possible shortage of water will require the development of new techniques and new plant varieties. This will require investment in research and development on a large scale if we are to continue to feed the world.
So what can we do?
The problems seem so immense, what can we do as individuals? The one area not discussed so far is that of waste. As consumers we waste £420 worth of food per household every year, for families with children this increases to £610. Perhaps because food has been cheap for so long we have become careless with it. We could all resolve to cut the amount of food we waste through better planning. Food is also wasted in the retail industry in the pursuit of the perfect and the uniform.
The issues around food raise many questions for Christians, particularly at the moment, in terms of justice, land use, and climate change. As we look to Biblical material the first thing to notice is the holistic view that exists of creation. This is in contrast to the way much of modern society views the world, where humanity can be seen to be somehow separate from the rest of the created order.
In the Old Testament particularly we see the whole of creation, including the land and the soil, joining in the praise of God, see for example Psalm 65:12-13, Psalm 66:4, Joel 2:22. We also are shown God's care for the whole of creation. Conversely the prophets warn how Israel's lack of faith towards God has consequences for the rest of creation, see for example Hosea 4:1-3. In Romans chapter 8: 19-22, Paul writes of creation groaning and waiting for the completion of the Kingdom through the liberation of the children of God.
Food also occupies a key place in the Biblical narrative. From the creation accounts we are told that humanity's primary purpose is to till the ground to produce food. This is food to feed the world not just certain favoured individuals. Leviticus (19:9) gives instructions about leaving the margins of a field for the poor and the alien. We see this put into practice in the story of Ruth.
Another key biblical theme about food is one of thankfulness. This begins in Deuteronomy when the people were commanded to take the first fruits of their harvest and give them as an offering to God. In the gospels we see Jesus regularly giving thanks for food, for example in the feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper. The disciples on the road to Emmaus recognised Jesus when he took the bread and gave thanks. Thanksgiving is about more than being grateful: it is to understand food as gift of God.
'To understand daily bread as gift is a crucial part of what it means to live under grace rather than, as Paul puts it, under law. To know food as gift is not only to be aware of the immense amount of labour, of justice and injustice, which lies behind everything we eat. It is also about our self understanding.' (Gorringe,T 2006 p59)
So thankfulness leads us into thoughts of justice, but this goes further than the concept of fair trade. Timothy Gorringe (Gorringe, T 2006), develops the idea of 'just food'. He affirms that 'just food' is not wasted, it is food that is targeted at the common good; food that repays the grower with a fair price; and food that is grown in a way that respects the ecosystem. So just food involves the whole of the created order and makes sure everyone receives their fair share.
Food is also about communion with God. In Genesis 18, Abraham hosts God in the form of the three angels. The people of the Exodus are told that the promised-land will flow with milk and honey. The Kingdom of God is often likened to a feast, particularly in the Gospels.
'Further the growing and sharing of food forms either backcloth or foreground material of the majority of the parables of Jesus. Even in his Resurrection appearances Christ eats with his disciples, first at Emmaus and later on a beach. By contrast in the Church since the late Middle Ages the growing and eating of food has become marginal to the worship and teaching of Christians.' (Northcott,M 2007,p118)
The development that Northcott articulates is puzzling given that at the centre of most Christian worship lies a meal, the Eucharist; a meal in which bread is taken blessed and broken, a place of communion with God. If we reaffirm the Eucharist as a meal, 'it becomes for us first of all a parable of how all created life is meant to be, i.e. offered, blessed, enjoyed in communion with God and one another.' (Peter CSWG,)
This echoes the holistic view of creation mentioned earlier and is perhaps the clue to sacramental living. From this very brief review there appear to be many issues around the subject of food for the Christian, including; justice and fairness, the care of creation and our relationship with God. We should not be surprised, however, since we worship an Incarnate God who in Jesus inhabited the material world, and who uses the ordinary things of the earth, water, bread and wine as vehicles of grace.
For further information, or if you and your church would like to discuss these issues please contact:
Rev Elizabeth Clark (Rural Officer, York and Hull Methodist District), Revd Canon Leslie Morley (Rural Officer, Diocese of Ripon and Leeds)
Bibliography
Walter Bruggeman 2002 The Land, Fortress Press
Timothy Gorringe 2006 Harvest SPCK
Ivor Macdonald 2005 The Land of the Living VBM Publishing
John Madeley 2002 Food for All Zed Books
Michael Northcott 2007 Spirituality Creation and the Ecology of the Eucharist John Knox
Peter CSWG The Thursday Agape Meal, in the journal of the Community of the Servants of The Will of God
Questions
Does your church have a 'food policy' e.g. using Fair Trade products and locally sourced foods at church events and taking care about wastage?
Are members of the congregation encouraged to think about food justice when they shop?
What can you do to recover the concept of thankfulness for food?
Yorsay is sent on behalf of the York & Hull Methodist District by the Communications Office
Bob Lawe 27 Ryde Avenue Hull Hu5 1QA communications@yorkhullmethodist.org.uk
Please note that some of you may receive this and other mailings from a Karoo e mail address - Please do not reply or use this address as it is for mail delivery only
The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the official views of the Methodist Church or of the York & Hull Methodist District and no inferred support for any of the items or organisations should be taken as granted.
Newsletter © 2008 York & Hull Methodist District - All rights reserved.
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