Page 3 - NEWSLETTER Dec 25 Jan 26 Helen

Be quite certain of this.

I am with you always, even to the end of time.

Matthew 28.20

Bournemouth meeting has undergone a long and arduous process of discernment in
terms of its premises, which has now led us to a new, borrowed base at Trinity. We
are sad to leave our Boscombe home and don't yet know what tomorrow holds for

us, but we have faith that together we will forge a bright future.

RESURRECTION

Probably we are all familiar with the distracting thoughts which are
triggered by the debate that goes on during a Meeting for Worship
for Business. At one such recent meeting the idea of Resurrection
came to mind. Let me explain.

Almost two thousand years ago, according to the first century gospel writers, a small
group of followers of Jesus were trying to make sense of recent events. Some of them saw Jesus,
the carpenter’s son, as being the Messiah who would lead them to freedom. They suffered under
oppressive Roman military rule and from the oppression of their hypocritical, religious leaders.
Jesus told them to expect the coming of the Kingdom of God. In reality, what happened was the
execution of Jesus, and the collapse of what the Roman and religious authorities saw as their
‘terrorist group’. It was all over.

Then there came stories of the body of Jesus, whom they knew to be dead as they had
buried him, had come to life again. He walked and talked and, following the ascension and with
the alarming gift of the Spirit at Pentecost they entered into a ‘Risen’ New Life. The writers of the
New Testament chronicled the way in which their new faith in the risen Christ, spread throughout
the Middle East.

As our Meeting for Worship for Business progressed, I thought about this Resurrection
story. I listened to what Friends had to say, and the feelings they expressed, about leaving the
Meeting House and now continuing to meet at Trinity Methodist.

As was true of the first-century disciples, Bournemouth Friends have suffered loss. Some
looked back, almost with despair. Others looked forward into an uncertain future. The faith of
the first disciples was in Resurrection, they looked back at the life of Jesus and recorded it up to
and including the end of his life, but they were confident in Resurrection - new life - a
transformation from what had been, into what was to be. And they were proved right.

I believe that is what we as Friends, looking into the future, can expect - Resurrection. We
can move forward with confidence, believing in the discernment that has been reached with
guidance of the Spirit. We can expect a new and ‘Risen’ life for our Quaker community.

That’s what I was thinking during our Meeting for Business.

Courtesy of Eric Johnson