Aldersgate

"What?" I hear you ask.
And unless you are a Methodist, this is quite a reasonable response. Even if you are a Methodist, in fact, it is a reasonable response, but probably shouldn't be!

So; Aldersgate celebrates the occasion, on 24th May 1738, when John Wesley felt his heart 'strangely warmed' (this should explain the Cambridge Methsoc hoodies bearing the legend, 'John Wesley, strangely warmed. Cambridge Methsoc, warmly strange'.) He was, prior to this time, lacking full conviction in his faith, and so it celebrated at his conversion.

In England you're lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at things) if this gets mentioned at all, but in the MCCA (Methodist Church of the Caribbean and Americas) it is a BIG DEAL. But next week the district president is away at a connexional conference celebrating 250 years of Methodism in the Caribbean, and plus, there is a national holiday. So we celebrated a week early. Which means that I was in church for five hours this morning, with singspiration, followed by a drama (in which I took a small role as John Wesley) and quiz on Methodism in the Caribbean, and then a communion service. And then lunch, but I didn't factor that into my five hours! It was a combined service for two circuits- eight congregations- so there were lots there.

My latest estimate is that I sang 19 Charles Wesley hymns (3 as choir items, 5 as hymns during worship, 8 during communion I think but not totally sure they were all Wesley, and at least 3 in 'singspiration' at the beginning of proceedings).
One of the more obscure ones had the first line 'None is like Jeshurun's God', and anyone who can tell me who Jeshurun is (and convince me they didn't just look it up in a concordance) can have their choice of Marie Sharpe's hot pepper sauce, OneBarrel rum, or Mango Jam, on my return. But since no-one will successfully convince me that they didn't look it up in a concordance, this is an empty promise!

Hope all is well with all in England

Caroline

long time no blog

HI

actually the title is a lie, I've been doing lots of frivolous blogging next door in my squawking land, but I did promise I'd keep this one going too.

So, from Easter through to last weekend (so that's about a month) things settled into a bit of a routine. I've properly taken over the English teaching, so am trying to think what I'm actually trying to achieve rather than doing it on a lesson by lesson basis! The range of abilities continues to be the greatest challenge.

When I've finished teaching there I generally go into Wesley College, either observing maths lessons or helping with assessments. The class sizes are really big and the classrooms are pretty bare and small- it must be quite a challenge teaching. I've seen quite a lot of the Methodist primary schools, too, and the difference between those in the city and those in the country is marked; to make a sweeping generalisation, the city ones have resources but no space at all, and the country ones have space but no resources. Lots of mission teams come down from the States, so I guess it's just ongoing prayers that are needed that resources and skills get to the right places (although it does tend to happen quite well, since there are people on the ground- notably, Maggie- making sure it does!)

We've had a few particular activities; youth week, with a sports day, bible quiz, youth forum and talent night, kept us very busy back in mid April, as did a service for the young people up in Corozal.

I've now been to sessions planning children and youth work in two of the five circuits, which has given me a chance to see the country a bit; and then I've been writing up what was said!

And, I got a small holiday; a few days on Caye Caulker, a BEAUTIFUL island, and a night down in Hopkins, a small village in Stann Creek district.