Visit of the President to Birmingham District

While the President of the Conference, the Rev Graham Carter, and his wife Rosamond, were in the Birmingham District, they were invited to a party at Lozells Methodist Church.  Their hosts were Caroline and Roland Nanatchounga, who have come to this country from Cameroon, and were celebrating the fact that they and their four children, have been granted asylum here.  They wanted to thank God for the successful outcome, and also to thank Lozells Methodist Church and the churches of Birmingham (Asbury) Circuit for all their love, support and prayers during the legal process.

[Photo shows: standing, Caroline and Roland Nanatchounga and their minister the Rev Carole Challis, and seated Mrs Nessa McBean, a church member who has been a good friend and supporter of the family, the President and his wife, and Mr Viv Needham, senior circuit steward.]

The President’s visit to the Birmingham District, from 6th to 8th January, comprised a wide variety of events.  He spoke to a gathering of ministers and others at Selly Oak Methodist Church on the Saturday morning, on the subject of a new Christian era beyond ‘christendom’.  Click here for notes of this meeting.

Then on the Sunday morning, he led the Covenant Service at Acocks Green Methodist Church with the Rev Vicki Atkinson.  Mr Carter and Ms Atkinson have known each other for many years, because he was Chaplain to Durham University Methsoc while she was Methsoc President.  The President showed the congregation the beautiful stole the Darlington District had given him, as a reminder of the rich variety of the District he chairs.  He commented that the Covenant Service reminds us that Jesus’ followers are a variety of people with a variety of experiences of life.  The rainbow on the stole reveals the God who made a covenant with Noah, and remains faithful to his people through all that variety.

On Sunday evening, the Birmingham Elmdon Circuit held a celebration of ‘Journeying Together’ at Castle Bromwich Methodist Church.  The President preached about the importance of keeping alive the excitement of journeying together as Christ disciples.  Representatives from each of the circuit churches lit a candle to represent God’s light shining in their neighbourhoods through their witness.  They took the candles away to light in their own churches through the Epiphany season.

On the Monday morning, the President and Mrs Carter, and Birmingham District Chair, the Rev Bill Anderson, visited Birmingham Children’s Hospital.  Here, the Rev Kathryn Darby is part of a strong inter-faith chaplaincy team.  The President met Ms Parkash Sohal, the voluntary Sikh Chaplain, the Rev Nicholas Ball, one of the Anglican Chaplains, who job shares with the Rev Darby, the Rev Tony Hewitt, a Roman Catholic Deacon, and Sr Therese O’Brien, Roman Catholic Honorary Chaplain.  The team also includes a senior Anglican Chaplain, a Baptist voluntary secretary, a Muslim woman Chaplain and an Imam.  The President visited the intensive care unit and baby ward, while Mrs Carter went to the cardiac ward and met the family of a young patient.

In the afternoon, the President and the Chair visited the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).  There the Rev Kathryn Darby’s husband, the Rev Stephen Willey, is District Industrial Chaplain and Chaplain to the NEC Group, which also includes the National Indoor Arena, the International Convention Centre and the Symphony Hall.  They met senior members of staff, including Chief Executive, Paul Thandi, who spent an hour with the President and Chair, discussing challenges and opportunities that affect both the NEC and the Church.  One is the impact of the internet on youth culture, and the virtual world in which many people now live.  In such a culture, he asked, what is the place for an exhibition centre, or the fellowship of belonging to a church?  They also discussed the contrasting concepts of management and leadership (where the leader does what is right for the organisation rather than what people want), and their application in an organisation such as the NEC, and in the Church.

The President brought to Birmingham encouragement and stimulation.  The District hopes that he left encouraged and stimulated by the glimpses he has seen of this populous and varied District; from churches to a hospital; from a vast commercial enterprise to one family’s celebration.

Rev Jenny Dyer