122 Golden Lane, London EC1Y 0TL, UK 
Tel: +44 (0)20 7251 8414 Fax: +44 (0)20 7608 3490

Managing Editor: Moira Sleight

To send an email to the newsroom, click here

Thursday, July 29, 2010 issue 7962

Church qualms over Twitter Communion

Methodist minister the Rev Tim Ross of Worthing, Sussex, is planning to go ahead and celebrate a live, global Communion service on the internet using the hugely popular micro-blogging Twitter site, despite the misgivings of the British Methodist Church.

Mr Ross has been advised by the Methodist Church that what he is proposing fits much better with the understanding and practice of a love feast rather than a Communion service.

Assistant Secretary of the Conference the Rev Ken Howcroft said: “We understand Tim Ross’s passion both for the importance of Holy Communion and of using new media for mission. It is important that the Methodist Church experiments and works out how to develop fresh expressions of faith and worship in the context of new forms of electronic social media such as Twitter. It is also important that we reflect and pray deeply in order to discern what developments are appropriate.”

“We have advised Tim Ross that what he is proposing fits much better with the understanding and practice of a love feast rather than a Communion service. We have suggested that he experiments with that in the first instance.”  

Yet in spite of these reservations from the Methodist Church, Mr Ross said that the response to what he stressed is a personal project had been overwhelmingly positive. Mr Ross, who explained that he was temporarily a supernumerary because of ill-health, has so far received many messages of support for his cyber Communion in which he asks people to “set aside their denominational practices and beliefs in order to celebrate the special unity we have in the universal Church”.

Methodists in Delhi Games protest

METHODIST ministers were among a group of Christians who staged a protest outside the Commonwealth Games Federation in London to raise awareness about the Indian Government’s alleged misuse of funding for poor communities.

Held by the Churches Dalit Support Group, the protest saw group members delivering a letter to the chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Games Federation. The letter objected to money earmarked for India’s social welfare programmes being used to finance the next Games, due to take place in Delhi in October.

The Delhi-based Housing and Land Rights Network has shown that the cost of the Commonwealth Games has ballooned and that they are being funded, in part, by taking more than £100 million from a “Special Component Plan for Dalits” – the so-called “untouchables”.  

The protesters are also unhappy that thousands of low caste families have been thrown out of their homes along the Yamuna River in Delhi and forced to move outside the city as a result of the infrastructure developments for the Games. The same may happen to 40,000 more people, the ecumenical group has warned.

Churches urged to tackle UK poverty

CHURCHES must make tackling UK poverty a priority as part of their efforts to proclaim the Gospel, Christians have been told.

This message came during a meeting of Christians in Parliament, held at Speaker’s House at the Palace of Westminster, where the founder of debt-counselling charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP), John Kirby, had been invited to speak.

Christian MPs, peers and Westminster staff gathered to hear Mr Kirby talk about the needs of society’s poorest communities. After the presentation, MP for South West Bedfordshire Andrew Selous urged churches to take the issue of debt more seriously and grasp their role in fighting UK poverty.

He said: “A good friend of mine said to me a while ago, ‘Andrew, you can forget trying to evangelise and present the Gospel to someone who is in significant debt. They need a ladder out of their debt before they will even listen or think about listening to the hope of the Gospel.’

“I think the Church needs to realise that this is not just a little bit of social good works they do alongside their core purpose of proclaiming the Gospel. This is fundamental and integral to bring the Gospel to people.”

ALSO IN THIS WEEK’S METHODIST RECORDER: … News from around the Connexion … Worldwide news … Gallery Notes … Cinema review … Letters to the Editor … Radio and TV reviews … and more!

For details on how to subscribe, click here.

For these stories and more, read the Methodist Recorder every week.

Home

Regulars

Advertising

Subscriptions

Books

Conference

Submissions

History

Links