Minister's Letter, January 2010 From Rev. John Hudson

Dear Friends,

It is not so much a new Year that it is in my mind but a new Decade! My thoughts go back ten years to the year 2000 and the start of a new Millennium. I remember being quite excited and feeling that it was rather special being alive at such a turning point in history.

I remember also feeling very hopeful for the future and challenged by the task laid before the churches: “to forge a link in people’s minds between the year 2000, the name of Jesus Christ and the possibility of personal meaning and public hope”.

Hopes were dashed early on with terrorist attacks on the USA in 2001 and “9/11” will always be remembered as a black day in history. Entering the second decade of the “new Millennium” the world faces the continuing implications of a global financial crisis and deepening concerns about climate change.

How can we reconcile our hopes for the future with our struggle to survive in a changing world? How can Christians learn to express their confidence in the importance for history of Jesus Christ? We continue to ask such questions as we seek to live out our 21st century faith.

Of course dates are only numbers and as we enter a new year we should remember that for Christians each day is one for new beginnings. We might also note the verse that some claim is the “centre” of the Holy Bible (Psalm 118:8): “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in human beings”.

So at the start of 2010, let us recover those hopes of ten years ago and remind ourselves of what was called “The Millennium Resolution”:

Let there be respect for the earth
peace for its people
love in our lives
delight in the good
forgiveness for past wrongs
and from now on a new start

With all good wishes