An extract about 'The Local Church' by Dr. Campbell Morgan

Someone shared this extract with me the other day. What a terrific piece of writing, packed with undeniable truth for our day ....and every age!

“The Church of Christ – take a local Church as indicating the great and ideal application – a local Church, so at the disposal of the Spirit as the Spirit through the Church can flash and flame upon the outside world, so as to amaze, perplex, and raise an enquiry; a local Church, one within its borders in fellowship with Christ, and testifying to Christ invariably a Church in favour with the people. Not that we should seek the patronage of the multitude, but that we are so to reveal Christ as to be centres of attraction to the multitude. The moment we depart from Him, we lose the crowd. The Church of Christ, where the Christ Himself is the supreme revelation made – not only through the individual lives of its members, but in its corporate capacity – where the compassion of Christ and the life of Christ are manifest in the mutual inter-relationship of the souls forming the Christian Church, as to the Church to which the weary and woebegone will turn. That is the true influential Church. How we have degraded that word ‘influential’. We call a Church ‘influential’ now because of the kind of people that attend it, because of the money it raises for philanthropic objects. There was a Church in the olden days that said, “I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing,” and the Master, walking amid the golden candlesticks said: “Thou ……. knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” So He would say to day to many Churches which we describe as ‘influential’. The influential Church id the company of loyal souls who “continue steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and the prayers,” who eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, who manifest in their individual lives and corporate capacity the strength, the beauty, the glory, the compassion of Christ. Wherever there is such a Church you will find the Church has favour with the people”.

Latest news: back in ol' blighty

As noted, I am back in the UK, and we spent from May to mid-October at our 'estate' in Ystradfellte, Wales. I was working flat out self-building alongside two wonderful local stonemasons, Paul & Gavin, whilst Sandy was in the caravan earning money with her copy-editing.

The aim was to get the other two barns ('2' & '3') watertight and stable. The walls were already falling over and very unstable when we bought them in 2005, and the last winter had caused significant further damage. In addition they weren't up to the roof profile in any section so a huge amount of rebuilding and repair was required. Not only did we do all this within the budget but 3 weeks ahead of schedule, despite a lot of rain interruptions.

Now the slate roofs are on all the properties, and the walls are finished, apart from a glazed screen to be constructed a spart of the final 'link' element with a grass flat roof, that will tie the whole suite together.

In the last few days I started to open up the floors to establish the slab levels, and discovered the original 17th century floor. This has now for to be recorded and drawn accurately for the archives CADW archives, which is another chore, but quite fun.

Indy, our lovely dog, was reunited with us and loved the life up in the hills! Great walks each day with lots of interesting smells. It was a glorious time in our lives; Red Kites soared above each day along with Buzzards and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Redstarts, and Tree Creepers feeding around us. We had two healthy-looking foxes run through, followed minuted later by the local hunt!

Best of all was getting embedded back into local village life: rebuilding links with those we already knew and making new ones. The locals are so incredibly friendly and kind. London seems a million miles away with its rushing, self-absorbed inhabitants! It was so good to have the kids, grandkids and dear friends visit us and share in the excitement of getting the barns finished.

Now we are down in our old haunts of Lewisham. Our dear friends, the Plummers, offered us a share of their home for 6 months, and have been so amazingly generous and kind to us – even accepting a dog into their home for the first time ever!! True friendship! The plan was for me to get the normal consukltancy work in RSL's for 6 months and then, with the dosh earnt, we would move back to Llwyn Onn in May, do some more work, and get into the barns permanently. The work climate is so bad that this is proving a very ambitious plan and today I am still unemployed with funds running very low! So I am applying to a range of full time posts, some of which are very exciting. We may just have to put the barns on ice and spend the money on the barns from a distance as it appears!!

Hmmmm. Sometimes God appears decidedly not aligned with our plans and one has to recognise that He is not there to underwrite our lives but rather to be the greatest friend through the challenges. Life without Him is empty and bland, and being successful is nothing without Him either. So its scratching head time and I'm ruminating and cogitating like a blinking cow! Onwards and upwards!!

Sandy smiles through it all and keeps her head down on the page!