Today’s thoughts are provided by Rev. Alana Lawrence
As Wesley Caerphilly Methodist Church celebrates its 90th anniversary on 28th May in the midst of a global pandemic, we have been pondering on the beginnings of our beautiful church in Caerphilly. The wonderful Anniversary Felting Triptych made by members of the Church and the Youth Club, tells the story of the Church’s beginnings and remembers the Methodist Churches in and around Caerphilly now closed and all the people that have worshipped in the church. Wesley opened its doors onto a world entering a global recession following the collapse of banking around the world in late 1929. The left-hand panel depicts the laying of the first bricks on 2nd November 1929 in the week of the banking collapse. So, whilst we may feel these times as unprecedented, there have indeed been precedents to the current crises. And yet this did not stop our foremothers and forefathers putting their trust in God and continuing the momentous work they had begun.
Let us remember those who have gone before us in faith, those who have visioned the church anew in each place and in each generation, holding fast to their faith and their calling to build the Church anew, through wars, economic collapse, times of austerity, hardship and illness. Let us give thanks to God for the Spirit that inspires, moves and recreates the Church, in every generation. May we continue to open ourselves to where the Spirit leads us today, tomorrow and eternally. Amen