Page 2 - Moravian Messenger August 2021

Editorial
I hope that everyone is enjoying a bit of a break over the summer months. It has been a long hard slog to get to this point and so many people deserve to be able to relax and recharge and to see family and friends from whom they have been separated for so long. Chris and I are visiting family and friends in England, people we have not seen since at least 2019, partly because of distance but mainly because of COVID. Of course, there have been no hugs or handshakes but just being in their physical company has been wonderful. We have done Zoom and Skype calls but being in their physical presence is so much better.
Friendship is so important to us yet somehow it is often underrated, and priority is given to the significant family relationships. In a world where families are smaller, family members scattered, and 'clan' relationships not so strong, friends become more important than ever. Friends are the people we chose to be with, who know our secrets, see things from our perspective and share our joys and sorrows.
Reading Exodus 33 the other day I was struck by the phrase, The Lord spoke to Moses 'face to face as to a friend'. It implied an open and honest relationship, not necessarily between equals but sincere in purpose. In John 15, during the upper room narrative, there are three instances of Jesus calling his followers 'his friends'. If we do what he commands we are his friends, he has called us friends because he has told us everything he has heard from his father, and he lays down his life for us, his friends.
We understand that our God is a God of relationships - within the Godhead - Father, Son and Holy Spirit and with the people
he created. Made in the image of God we are made to be in relationships with one another and interaction and interdependence are important aspects of that. We are not intended to live as isolated units.
Following on from this the Church can offer two great gifts to the society around us. Firstly, it can offer the friendship that we have found in Jesus, not a gospel of judgement and condemnation but a call to relationship, to friendship with the one we walk with. This is the one who as a friend sticks closer than a brother and who ultimately loves us so much he lays down his life for us.
In tandem with that we can offer friendship as a gift to those around us. Our Churches should be places of friendships and relationships, of mutual support and care. And this friendship should be always open to others, never exclusive and inward looking. The Church should naturally be somewhere where people can come to find interaction and friendship. Of course, that has not been so easy during COVID
but we must rebuild it as restrictions ease.
So, cherish your friends, the ones who stick by you and give thanks to God for them.
Offer the gift of friendship to those around you, take a risk and reach out to them.
Be amazed that Jesus calls those who follow him his friends; what a privilege and a joy.
Have a wonderful summer.
Sr Sarah Groves
Editorial Team
New Provincial Board Members
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Peter Madsen Gubi continued
spirituality/faith. I am also an Honorary Professor in Pastoral Theology at Teofilo Kisanji University in Mbeya, Tanzania, and publish with, and mentor, members of staff there via Zoom. I continue to work two days a week at Chester in my capacity as a Professor, where I supervise a number of doctoral students in their research. I also have a practice in pastoral supervision in which I offer support to clergy who work in several denominations in the UK.
I have always been a member of the Moravian Church and have always looked to use my gifts and abilities in the service of the Moravian Church - and beyond. I have served as a lay preacher and on several provincial committees. I was ordained as deacon in 2012, and consecrated as presbyter in 2014, and have served Lower Wyke, Wellhouse and Dukinfield congregations as a Minister. When I have some time from writing, accompanying others and doing ministry, I enjoy simply reflecting, gardening, playing table tennis, walking with friends and cycling. I love the variety of my life, and feel incredibly blessed, although I have had many knocks along my life's journey. I can sometimes be experienced as being like a bit of grit in the shoe, in that I honour and value others, but can also challenge where I feel challenge is needed. I look at the enormity of the task ahead for the province and the provincial board, and whilst I feel completely daunted, I have a strong faith in God, and in my ability, that will uphold me, and I look forward to playing my small part in the work of the Provincial Board.
Br Peter Gubi
Michael Newman
continued
Provincial Board
Provincial Board
Horton congregations for four years, during which time I was ordained as a deacon and consecrated as a presbyter. I have been serving the Fulneck and Gomersal congregations for ten years, and we have just recently moved to Hornsey, where I will begin serving later in August. I am currently part way through a Masters in Contextual Theology, also at Luther King House.
At the Provincial level, I served for a full twelve years on the Church Book Committee and have just completed twelve years on the Church Service Committee. I have also served on the Faith and Order and Ecumenical Relations Committee for six years. I have been vice-chairman of Synod on two occasions and was chairman of the recent Zoom Synod, which went remarkably well! I also had the privilege of representing the Province at the Unity Mission Conference in Cape Town in 2017.
Over the last few years, I have been encouraged by a number of brothers and sisters to consider putting my name forward for the Provincial Board. I hope and pray that I can repay their confidence in me now that I have been elected. I look forward to working with the other members of the board as we approach the 300th anniversary of the renewal of the Moravian Church, and the exciting ventures that are part of Project 32.
Br Michael Newman