16th March : 11am
Meeting beside The Priory Theatre on Percy Street, NE30 4HA (W3W supply.winner.melon)
walking to The Land of Green Ginger, NE30 4BO, (W3W blocks.silver.robots). Approx 0.4 miles
10 mins round trip will probably include a stop at a coffee shop.
Journeying God of the lost things
What have we not noticed?
What have we seen, but not seen?
What stories are becoming distant?
What remembering do we need to fanin to flame?
Nothing is gone forever.
When embers are given life When deep roots are watered
They can be brought to life again.
Amen
Moses is out looking after his father-in-law’s sheep when suddenly in the distance he notices something a little odd. A bush seems to be on fire. Yet there is something strange about the way it burns. Usually out in the wilderness a bush burns up in minutes if not seconds. Yet this bush seems to be burning at the same intensity as when Moses first noticed it.
Moses goes over to investigate and, as he approaches, this burning bush begins to speak. Well, the bush doesn’t speak, but a voice comes from the bush, instructing Moses to take off his sandals because he is on holy ground.
What follows is a conversation about what Moses needs to go and do because God has decided to act in response to the cries of the people.
Some of the Rabbis, who reflected upon the Hebrew scriptures and gave interpretation and instruction on them offered this thought. What if the bush had always been burning, it is just that Moses only just noticed it on this day?
Tynemouth has no Methodist chapels. Yet over the last 200 years it has had three grand buildings that Methodist people
have gathered in. The first still stands. In fact some of you will have sat in it even though it closed it doors in 1870. A conversation with someone in the last week revealed just this as I talked about Percy Street Methodist Church. Today it is the Priory Theatre but its original use was as a Wesleyan Chapel.
Like this person, if you look closely when you are there you will notice that it still refers to its original use on a plaque.
Percy Street Wesleyan Methodist closed when a larger chapel was built in pride of place on Front Street. This grand building seated over 700 and sat where the library and flats are situated now. The Chapel closed in 1934, becoming the Carlton Cinema until it was demolished in the 70s.
The Methodists from Front St did not go far though. On the corner of Front St stood the Congregational Church that today we know as the Land of Green Ginger. A Congregational member by the name of John Patton, through his enthusiasm, brought together the two churches to form the Covenant Church that existed from 1950 to 1973.
The Rabbis’ question to the story of Moses and the burning bush is one of noticing. Was the bush always burning, or was
it that Moses didn’t notice it until that day? Maybe he had walked past it many times and just paid no attention. When he did notice it, and approached it, he then heard the voice of God speaking to him from it.
When I moved to the area one of the things I noticed was that there weren’t many churches in Tynemouth. In the years I have lived in the area I have noticed some talk about planting a church in Tynemouth but nothing has ever come of it. I have noticed the work of Street Pastors who have served its night time economy and the Mouth of the Tyne festival.
Since I began researching these notes, I have noticed that the Methodist church has been present, that its history can still be found if you look for it.
And maybe there is a burning bush in Tynemouth or somewhere else today just waiting for someone to take notice.
Questions to reflect on
1.How would you describe your eyesight?
2.Have you ever walked past or spoken to someone famous and not noticed who they were? Or have you been somewhere when something dramatic or strange has happened and you didn’t realise till afterwards?
3.Can you describe how you get from your house to your chapel on Sunday? Which way do you go? What do you pass? Who else is out and about?
4.Do you think Moses took notice of the bush that day because…?
a.It was burning
b.It didn’t burn up
5.What would have caught your attention in that situation? 6.Think about one of the following places and ask the questions below.
a.Your street
b.Your workplace
c.Your local shopping street/centre
d.Your chapel
What have you noticed recently about this place? What do you notice about the people who are there? Have you noticed anything that is missing or that you think should be there? Have you noticed God at work?
Has been a part of BeachcomberFX since his arrival in the North East in 2014. He is well travelled (at least in the UK) having lived in Manchester, Nottingham, Derbyshire, Southport, Doncaster, Berwick and Edinburgh. Supporter of Newcastle United, will watch any sport.