Daffodil Day
Saturday found me at Daffodil Day at Westminster Central Hall. As always the hall looked magnificent with so many daffodils and as always it was good to catch up with friends. A peace Candle for Ukraine was lit and I was reminded of our Dora project working with girls whose lives had been disrupted by the war and vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. The music was amazing with the Methodist Central choir, the Gwalia Male Voice Choir and Revd Lola Brown leading in very different styles. Leonora, as co-chair, was interviewed by Pam Rhodes and spoke about her journey to taking on the role as well as her passion for raising awareness about violence against women.
The address was given by Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths who spoke movingly about the “little things” and how a small group of people in his community had come together to support him through grammar school which gave him the platform for the life he was to lead. He also spoke of the strength of his mother, a single Mum, and the judgemental attitudes of the church towards her at that time. This resonated with me as I remember my mother being treated in a judgemental way by the church after my father walked out just after I was born and she sought a divorce. Only in later life she found a way back to regular worship through the Salvation Army.
The intercessions were also led by members of MWiB in a creative and meaningful way.
It was good to see our fantastic and colourful new publicity on display and to see people taking the information away with them. Having that colour co-ordinated corporate approach will really help us get the name and work of Methodist Women in Britain out there.
On Sunday I led worship at Brightlingsea United Church on the Essex coast.
They have been a congregation that has been so supportive of me and always keen to hear of my MWiB adventures. I was pleased to hand out one of our new bookmarks to all who came. I reflected on key areas of my last two and a half years including seeing the bigger picture through Porto and looking forward to my trip to Rwanda. But going forward the little things that Leslie Griffiths spoke of are equally important. Connection and connectivity are essential at the grass roots to embed issues affecting women in the churches today. After the service the leadership spent time looking at the new publicity and what was available.
