A Day of Formal Welcome

Early on I asked, "Would it be possible to experience this calling of ministry and life in the church somewhere besides North Carolina?" I had been in North Carolina for almost my entire life, of course, except for the two years that I spent in Scotland. I had a familiarity with Great Britain and, therefore, an interest in the "somewhere else" being Great Britain. So this question had immediate direction. I asked it and explored the possibilities.

I was well aware that there is vital ministry to be done in North Carolina and that my commitment is with The United Methodist Church in Western North Carolina. I understood that my yearning for new experience in ministry and life in the church would consequently remove two people from ministry in the WNCC; yet, I could not ignore the sense of excitement and curiosity for ministry that was stirred when thinking about serving within another Church in a new cultural context.

I navigated the application process and waited.  I waited for months and lived in complete limbo.  I received the invitation to go.  I struggled with the reality.  It meant that I would extend my lifelong, North Carolina roots and would expand my United Methodist ministry connections.  It meant that I would have to move my family.  Ultimately, it would bring to life the answer to my question.

Obviously, I have come to England.  I have extended and expanded the things in my life that are most familiar.  I have come to serve in The Methodist Church.  If I were still in North Carolina, I would continue to call it the British Methodist Church.  But clearly after 7 weeks, I am no longer in the Tar Heel state.  And so none of the differentiation is necessary (or appropriate really)..."The Methodist Church" it is.

Here I am thousands of miles away from the Western NC Conference of The United Methodist Church that I know so well.  Here I am in The Methodist Church.  And somehow I am beginning to feel at home.  Don't get me wrong.  The surroundings are different.  The church structures are definitely not the same.  Yet, I believe that by grace my new place in life is being transformed, and I am being transformed in it.

I may not be Home, but I am feeling at home--for good reason. Yes, we have been welcomed graciously and hospitably. Yes, we have been met with kindness and generosity. Yes, we have been given a comfortable place to live. Yes, we are renewing connections and making new ones. But, really my feeling at home in The Methodist Church began when we experienced the Church's practice of a welcome service.

On every occasion that a minister arrives in a new appointment (no matter whether from within the UK or from abroad), a Circuit offers services of welcome. Timothy and I had been hearing about the plans for this worship service long before we arrived, but we had no specific expectations. We knew that it would be a joint welcome service being offered by both of our Circuits.  We knew that it would include our carefully selected hymn choices, "Be Thou My Vision" and "Amazing Grace."  That was really the extent of our knowledge.

Not only did we have little expectations and knowledge, but we would have never been able to predict what the occasion would become for us and the community of Methodists.  We realized that this service was a unique opportunity for our Circuits to join together--for leaders in the Circuits to work together--for the people called Methodists in the Reading and Silchester Circuit and the Newbury and Hungerford Circuit to worship together.  We came to understand that in this service of worship Circuit boundaries were being opened to the future and The Methodist Church in some small way was being made ready for the promises of tomorrow.  Our welcome service was formative and memorable.

I must take you through the experience.

The welcome service was held in a neighboring Benedictine abbey called Douai Abbey just a few minutes outside of Thatcham. www.douaiabbey.org.uk Because of its size and its convenient location to both Circuits, this beautiful and unique worship space was used for this afternoon of formal welcome.  Our Circuit Superintendents and the Senior Circuit Stewards had organized and planned the service as well as the reception that would follow.  Our District Chair for the Southampton District would be the preacher, and the two Superintendents would be worship leaders.

My parents were still with us from North Carolina, so they were able to celebrate this occasion as well.  I was grateful for their presence and for their being able to share this experience.  So, we along with over 400 other people filled Douai Abbey to share in this afternoon of worship and fellowship.

The liturgy was especially crafted to offer formal welcome, and within the service itself, Timothy and I were each asked to make a response of commitment along with the gathered congregation.  We each shared public words of promise.  We each made brief introductions about our lives and our thoughts on ministry.  Then, we were each welcomed by local clergy from our ministry areas, as they approached us and greeted us, and we saw for the first time just how vital ecumenism is in Great Britain.

I will never forget my sweet, little daughter in her flowing summer dress on this day of celebration.  As we spoke and received welcome and sang hymns during the latter part of the service, my daughter was outstretched on the stairs below the altar with her crayons and paper.  She was moving about, keeping watch on the congregation.  She was dancing, as the organ pipes offered the timeless music of "Amazing Grace."  And it was pure joy!!

The abbot of Douai Abbey even leaned in at one point to a person down the row from me and said, "Those steps were made for children."  I would guess that those Abbey steps don't find children on them very often.  But, on this day of formal welcome, I am grateful that they did.  To some extent it was as if our little girl found her own moments for welcome.  She opened herself to everything and everyone without reserve.  And there is no doubt that before the close of the service we all found our place.  We had been welcomed, initiated, introduced, and offered love in the midst of it all.

It was a day of formal welcome--a day that will always be remembered!