Our district synod met this week and over the course of three days together, we heard many accounts of struggle and brokenness from our people as we acknowledged the challenges presently facing the Methodist Church. At many levels we are in a difficult place - showing signs of decline in numbers, finances and impact across our District.
At the same time, a consistent theme through this synod has been that it is when we are weak and broken that we turn to God and it is there that we learn to humbly depend on the God whose grace is sufficient for us and whose strength is made perfect in our weakness.
In his opening address to synod, our Bishop shared a vivid memory from early in his ministry of standing outside a landfill in a rural village, and initially only being able to see all the rubbish. But then as he kept looking around, searching for life in this place of brokenness, he noticed a surprising sign of life - healthy water-melons growing in a corner of the dump. It was a helpful metaphor for synod - a picture of the work of the God who turns Good Fridays into Easter Sundays. Where are there water-melons growing in your life and mine right now?