October,'23 Letter
“Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours….”
by St Teresa of Avila
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It has been 13 months since I joined you all in your individual and collective ministries within the Rochdale & Littleborough Circuit, working closely with Moorhouse, Smithy Bridge and Syke Methodist churches as a Probationer Deacon Minister.
As a probationer, I often find myself reading both the circuit profile and probation handbook, and while reading our probation handbook, I found some encouraging words which I want to share with you because they not only reflect my journey of discernment, but they also reflect some of the church and faith journeys: “The journey through probation may not always be comfortable either for probationers or for those around them. It is a time of adjustment not merely to a new role but to a new way of being a time of heart-searching and questioning, of exploration and discovery. It is a time when expectations are challenged, and frustrations encountered as the Church and probationers undertake discernment together. At a time of rapid change in the Church and society, these tensions become all the more apparent. And yet it is a time of great joy.”
It has been a great joy and privilege for me to journey with you over the last 13 months. I would like to express my gratitude to you all for your contributions to my continued learning and development as I respond to God’s call to ordained ministry in the Methodist Church. Your continuous acceptance, recognition, affirmation, support, and prayers are immensely appreciated as I continue to develop my accountability to God almighty and to you all. Through you, I feel held in God’s hands as we discern and seek God’s will together, in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Yours in His service.
Probationer Deacon Marcianne Uwimana