Letter from the Manse 

Dear Friends,

I sit to write this column in the aftermath of the Presbyteral Synod. One of the things on the agenda is those Presbyters seeking to retire – or sit down as it is referred to in the Methodist Church – are asked to make their request by sharing a testimony relating to their ministry. I thought I would share mine with you as well, or as much of it as I can fit into this space!

The journey had its origins back in 1974 when, as a 16 year old, I received my call one Sunday morning during our Sunday School session. Imagine the chaos of about 80 13-16 year olds moving from plenary worship to individual classes all in the same hall! In the midst of that I happened to look up at the front wall of the hall on which was displayed a poster. In that instant, I was suddenly transported to another place, where the chaos going on round about me simply disappeared and it was as if the poster came alive and was speaking to me. It was a simple picture of a Cross, Bible, Chalice and loaf of Bread with these words printed across the bottom of it: Is God perhaps calling you to full time ordained ministry in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa? In that brief moment, God etched God’s call into my very soul and suddenly, I was back in the room.

Needless to say, I put that to one side and told no-one else. I had aspirations of being an Accountant, which seemed a much better option to me!

Five years later, in 1979, God came calling again and this time I was ready to answer.

I set out to test the call by becoming a full time Youth Worker. First, for one year, in my home church in Port Elizabeth followed by two years in the Fish Hoek Methodist Church. It was here that I met and married Angela and candidated for the Presbyteral Ministry of the MCSA in 1982. I was accepted and sent directly to college, Rhodes University, for the next three years and began my Circuit Ministry in January 1986. I was ordained whilst serving in my first appointment in 1988.

We have had the privilege of sharing in ministry in 2 countries, on 2 continents, in 2 hemispheres and 2 Connexions of the world wide fellowship of the Methodist Church. I have been appointed to 7 Circuits in 4 Districts and served 17 churches in total. 3 of those were in South Africa! I have been Superintendent 4 times.

My ministry was forged in the cauldron of what was South Africa in the 80s and 90s. Unsurprisingly justice was the watchword and working towards building an integrated society was the aim. In the midst of that work there were some other notable opportunities.

In our second appointment, first as an ordained Presbyter on my own in 1990, we were tasked with building the St Luke’s Methodist Church in Wilropark on the West Rand in Greater Johannesburg. We arrived to a congregation meeting in a hall comprising of 120 members with an operating income of R85,000. 7 years later when we left, we left behind a thriving congregation of some 600 members operating out of a new 400 seater sanctuary and an income budget of R470,000.

In our third appointment in SA, Randburg MC in the Johannesburg North Circuit, it was felt the Circuit was too big and so it split. The current Superintendent took four of the Churches and some staff to form a new Circuit and I became the Superintendent of what was left – 7 Churches, 10 ministers and 5,000 members – still named Johannesburg North! It was while serving in this Circuit that I had a moment of existential crisis that set us adrift and brought us to these shores.

Because of where I was coming from, the British Connexion deemed it wise to place me as a Superintendent in the Medway Circuit. I’m not sure what they were thinking but I very soon realised I definitely had not thought this one through adequately! Within the first 6 months I uncovered financial irregularities that caused the whole Circuit Leadership Team to resign and the words frying pan and fire appeared writ large in the ensuing mess. The one shining light in that Circuit was the probationer that I had charge of. His name is James Tebbutt, now known as the Rev Dr and serving as District Chair of the new North West England District comprising at least a third of the current Connexion! I’m pretty certain I didn’t have much to do with his rise in Methodist circles but at least I was there at the beginning!

The mess was unbearable, though, and I had decided to walk away from it all. God, however, was not done with me yet. I spied a book on my shelf: Mid Course Correction by Gordon MacDonald I had yet to read. Thinking it was about mid life crisis, which I was surely in the midst of, I picked it up and read it. Actually it was a study in Abraham and the many mid course corrections he made before becoming the father of Israel. God used it to encourage me to stay the course and so I did.

Despite pleading with the Stationing Committee not to give me another Superintendency, that’s exactly what the stationing process delivered and so I moved to the Chichester & Bognor Regis Circuit. There we were able to shape an Ecumenical Area with the United Reformed Church before we moved on to Torquay.

Our time in the Torbay Circuit came to an unexpected end after 5 years. Despite the sense of unfinished business that we wanted to complete, a vocal section of the congregation who felt differently about it held sway. So it was that we arrived in Horsham.

Despite the challenges and struggles we have faced here, this has been the most fulfilling of our appointments in British Methodism and the creation of Cornerstone out the chaos of the pandemic and Kath’s resignation and now the Gatwick & Mole Valley Circuit leave us feeling we are leaving things in a better place to face the challenges that do still lie ahead.

The one thing this 39 year journey in Circuit Ministry – 45 if you count three years of Youth Ministry and college – has taught me is simply this: God is faithful.

As I contemplate Easter I do believe that too is the message of the Cross.

The moment Jesus emerged from the waters of the Jordan the Spirit took him into the wilderness to discern the pattern and shape of his calling and ministry. Right up to the end as he hung on that cross in seeming failure, he trusted, better than I think I ever have, that resurrection was just a couple of days away. He knew that the One who sent him would be faithful to the very end. As a result he has shown us what is possible when we trust ourselves completely to the One who has given us life and never lets us go. As Joseph Hart declares in his hymn: This, this is the God we adore - We’ll praise Him for all that is past, And trust Him for all that’s to come.

Love in Jesus.

Gavin