CIRCUIT BRING & SHARE LUNCH AND DISCUSSION
with Rev. Dr. Claire Potter
Ministerial Co-ordinator for Oversight of
Ordained Ministries in the British Methodist Church
Sun – 02 Apr 1:00 p.m. @ Railton Road
Theme:
“As Methodists, How, has our Welcome Been?”
Why @ Railton Road? In 1999, Rev. Dr. Claire Potter was invited to preach at the Harvest Service at Railton Road where she asked the congregation if they would allow her to interview any of them. Many took her up on this and shared their stories about their experiences of welcome from the Methodist Church.
As Methodists living in Lambeth, we are all invited to come to Railton Road for an opportunity to learn more about Rev. Dr. Claire Potter’s research that she carried out between 1998 and 2002 on the theme of the Methodist Church’s experience of welcoming people from Jamaica from the time of the Windrush generation until today.
Rev. Claire was motivated to do these interviews because she had recently been a community worker in a small Methodist church in Smethwick where the majority of the congregation were Jamaican people who had arrived in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Their hospitality, openness, resilience, and willingness to share their stories was a life changing experience for her. She wanted to tell those stories accurately in order to be fair to them and to benefit the whole church. She later wrote her thesis on: ‘British Churches and Jamaican Migration - a study of religion and identities1948 to 1965’.
She has written:
“Much has been written about migration from the Caribbean to Britain in the decades following the Second World War, however, little has been studied concerning the church history of this migration. In addition, much research has considered Black Theology and Black Church history in Britain. However, rarely has Black Church history been regarded as a part of British Church history.
From our SOCIAL ACTION Ccommittee
Responding to the Climate Crisis:
The Social Action Team made some recommendations to the circuit meeting which involves every one of us. The circuit has now committed us to:
- Stop using bottled water in our churches once current stocks are used up.
- Have a clearly marked re-cycling bin in every church and use it.
- Use washable cups, mugs and plates once current stocks of disposables are used up.
- Consider travel options for attendance at church. Walk, cycle or use public transport wherever possible. If car travel is essential, then try to car share.
- Celebrate eco Sunday in all our churches on September 5th
- Replace light bulbs with LEDs as soon as practicable.
- Complete sections of the Eco Church survey with appropriate groups in our churches.
- Make eco church a priority for action at the circuit Property Committee.
- Each church to report back to the circuit meeting on progress and actions.
We need to play our part in managing the climate crisis. Every little action CAN make a difference.
Message for our Young People:
We are concerned about Climate Change. God has given us a beautiful world, but we are not looking after it. We are using up too much of the earth’s resources and this has contributed to Global Warming. If we carry on like this, then everyone will suffer. Could you write an acrostic poem or a rhyming poem helping us to become more aware of the damage we are causing? We have printed a poem here for you to read. If you can write a poem or a story about how we can make a difference, ask your parent to email this to Pat Ashworth… patashworth@hotmail.com
Of Global warming and climate change
A Poem by Francis Duggan:
Of Global warming and climate change we read of and hear
The changes in our environment gives us reason to fear
Of what does lay ahead for the children of today
We’ve brought climate change forward by centuries it does seem that way.
The polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate Our polluting of our natural environment not something to celebrate
To combat global warming, we’ve left it a bit late As a species we may well have sealed our own fate.
The burning of fossil fuels and carbon emission have gone on for too long On what causes climate change the experts have never been wrong
What we do to Nature in kind she repays Global warming a threat to human existence many experts now say.
War and terrorism as a threat to humanity seems little at all When compared to climate change its impact seems small Humans not known to learn from mistakes of the past
We must change our ways and we must change them fast.
