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Events
Some personal reports from people attending some
previous Wesley Fellowship residential conferences:
Reports Wesley Fellowship Conference
Cliff College, October 2000
We have four reports, the first from the residential
conference held in April 2007 at the Hayes
Conference Centre at Swanwick, Derbyshire;
the others from the residential conference
held in October 2000 at Cliff College, Derbyshire.
Click these links to read the recollections
of:
The first account is by Revd
Harold Moore at Swanwick, April 2007:
A personal
report from Harold E. Moore:
A correspondent in The Times on Easter Saturday,
7 April 2007, complained that, although the Maundy
Thursday’s edition had been ‘flush
with articles on Christianity,’ the focus
in all of them had been slanted towards the ‘curious
and the negative’ aspects of the faith – such
as the Dean of St. Albans berating his God as
a ‘psychopath.’ On that same Thursday
my wife and I had been travelling home to Darlington
after spending three glorious days at the Wesley
Fellowship conference held at The Hayes, to celebrate
the tercentenary of Charles Wesley’s birth
on the 18th December 1707. The traffic on the
M1 was horrendous but our hearts and minds were
elevated and refreshed. We had shared in a marvellous
retreat and our minds were ringing with the poetic
glories of Charles Wesley’s great hymns.
The Rev Dr John Newton, former President of
the Methodist Conference, was in great form and
gave four exquisite papers on Charles Wesley:
his ‘Families’, as ‘Preacher
of the Gospel’, the ‘Atonement in
his Hymns’, and finally (with John) as ‘Brothers
in Arms.’ Sadly, Charles often seems to
be overshadowed by his illustrious brother but
we were allowed to gain a new snap-shot of this
gifted poet and preacher, who temperamentally
was very much the son of his father Samuel, sometimes
hot headed and certainly more emotional and soft-hearted
than his elder brother. We were given glimpses
of him as a young man who at Oxford refused to ‘be
made a saint all at once,’ but who became
a most effective itinerant teacher, a prolific
gospel poet, a staunch Anglican clergyman, a
loyal husband to Sally Gwynne and a loving father
to his three gifted children, and whose death
(reported to John while visiting Bolton) turned
that most unemotional man to tears as he announced
and sung Charles’ superb hymn – Wrestling
Jacob, with the words:
Come, O Thou Traveller unknown
Whom still I hold, but cannot see!
My company
before is gone,
And I am left alone with Thee.
The lecture devoted to Wesley’s teaching
on the Atonement seemed to end abruptly and I
felt we were not given a full insight into Wesley’s
exposition of his favourite theories of the atonement.
However it prompted a discussion that compared
Wesley hymns on the Cross with the words ‘When
I survey the Wondrous Cross’, of Isaac
Watts, who follows Abélard in valuing
our Lord’s death simply as a moral influence
on our lives but is really devoid of God’s
regenerating and reconciling grace, which is
so characteristic of Wesley’s hymns,
with lines like:
Set up Thy kingdom in my heart,
And
make me rich, for I am poor. (MHB No. 349)
Over 70 people shared in Christian fellowship
at the Love Feast, and the communion was rich
and warm. The Wesley Fellowship is not exclusive
to Methodists and the group included scholars
and believers (such as Salvationists, Nazarenes,
and others in the Wesleyan tradition) who share
the same faith in Christ Jesus. Often they are
more fervent and knowledgeable, and exult in
Wesley’s Arminianism and his emphasis on
Scriptural and Social Holiness. It was good to
meet friends new and old. Some I had not seen
for nearly 50 years. I was particularly struck
by the generous gift of prayer; usually extemporary,
fervent and eloquent, liberally sprinkled with
scriptural texts and quotations from our great
hymns. This gift is now so rare amongst modern
Methodists, but once common in my boyhood days.
The whole experience was a tonic to our souls
and a breath of fresh air to the whole body of
believers gathered together in one place. ‘God
was in this place…it was the house of
God and the gate of heaven’ (Gen 28:17).
The conference also included the 2007 Annual
Maynard James Memorial Lecture, given by Dr Herbert
McGonigle on the hymns of Charles Wesley. It
was a real tour de force. It is to be published
- and anyone interested in Wesley’s hymns
needs to be sure to obtain a copy! All in all,
we enjoyed a wonderful, enriching time, and returned
to our homes, churches and tasks with brighter
visions and renewed consecration. Praise be to
God!
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The next report is from Herbert
McGonigle, at Wesley Fellowship conference held
at Cliff College, October 2000:
I
am writing this with the 'warm glow' that lives
on from our very wonderful residential two-day
WF Conference at Cliff College in October. From
the Introductions to the Benediction it was
indeed a memorable time. A fellow-attender summed
it up when he said to me: 'If our members had
known how good this Conference was going to
be, we wouldn't have room for all who would
have wanted to come!' There were four Papers
presented, top in quality and which, hopefully,
will be available in published form. With careful
research and evaluation Bill Graham informed
us about the education of John Wesley's preachers,
illustrating how Wesley wanted his itinerants
to have both warmed hearts and informed heads.
John Colwell broke new ground in showing how
both Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley saw biblical
perfection in terms of love to God and man.
Dr Colwell's brief personal testimony to Christ's
power in his own life at a time of particular
need made his presentation spiritually challenging
as well as academically stimulating. Geoffrey
Fewkes' Paper on Reader Harris, the Founder
of the League of Prayer, introduced a subject
that was new to many of those present and Geoffrey
made it 'live' with his usual animated style
and use of overhead notes. And what can I say
about Dr Bill Parkes' Paper on the American
Camp Meeting evangelist, Lorenzo Dow? As expected,
it was very carefully researched and delivered
with clarity and conviction. But it was more
- it was a salutary reminder to all of us, especially
preachers - to make sure we continue to walk
humbly before the Lord. Bill reminded us that
Dow, once a most popular Holiness evangelist
both in America and Britain, had a very sad
end to his life and ministry. But you must read
this Paper (and the others) for yourself when
it is published by the WF! The programme also
included two uplifting expository sermons from
Col. David Guy and Mr Paul Taylor, a very moving
Love Feast conducted by Bill Parkes and the
special fellowship that marks all meetings of
the WF. All too soon this wonderful Conference
was over and we were saying our farewells to
one another…
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The next account
was from Denis and Virginia Haywood who were then
new members attending their first Wesley Fellowship
Conference:
Somewhat
'tongue in cheek' we first mention the wonderful
setting of Cliff College in which the Conference
met - as we are both permanent residents who work
at the College and we are somewhat biased!
We both felt humbled and privileged to 'sit at
the feet' of people who obviously had well researched
and knew their subject thoroughly, but who also
had a real passion for it and the Wesleyan tradition.
We were led through interesting theological insights
and were enlightened into the lives of those connected
with the Wesleys or whose theology ran parallel
to theirs. Most of all those insights led us straight
to Christ Himself, the source wherein the Wesleys
laid their foundations.
The papers were: 'The Education of Wesley's Preachers',
given by Bill Graham; 'Stages in Salvation: John
Wesley and Reader Harris', given by Geoffrey Fewkes;
'Offending in Many Things: John Wesley and Thomas
Aquinas on Sin in the Christian', given by John
Colwell; and 'Lorenzo Dow', given by Bill Parkes.
We were enthralled by the two wonderful preaching
services where the preachers were Paul Taylor
and David Guy. How blessed we were to listen to
these two persons; it was excellent preaching
of the kind hard to find today; which is vital
to hear in today's world, and which we crave to
hear from our pulpits and preachers. From each
of the Papers and the two preaching services there
were valuable truths and new insights to take
in and reflect on. Interestingly the two preacher's
thoughts dovetailed beautifully with thoughts
presented through the Papers and we are certain
that God's Holy Spirit had been at work in this,
as He revealed and reinforced His truths.
We were struck much by the warmth and strength
of the Fellowship. Members of the Fellowship for
barely a year, we found the Conference an excellent
opportunity to get to know people in a way which
is almost impossible over the usual two one-day
sessions held annually. The Love Feast was a wonderful
experience of openness and sharing between the
members, particularly in testimony. That atmosphere
flowed over into the following day's early morning
Prayer Meeting as, in love, people (some mentioned
the previous evening) were brought before the
Lord in prayer. This prayer was both fervent and
sincere and, in this, the strength and caring
of the Fellowship was confirmed.
Based on our impressions, we commend the Conference
to those who, as yet, have been unable to attend.
A Wesley Fellowship residential Conference, with
the time spent together, is a learning, sharing,
and affirming experience. It went far beyond the
high expectations we had anticipated.
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Ken
and Maureen Rose also recorded their memories
of their time at the Wesley Fellowship Conference
2000:
In
October we were privileged to attend the Wesley
Fellowship conference at Cliff College in Derbyshire.
It was a real treat. As well as enjoying the
fellowship, Charles Wesley's great hymns, a
lively time of Questions and Answers, a Love
Feast, and some stirring preaching, our perceptions
and understanding were stretched by four high
quality papers, opening up areas which (for
us at least) were quite new. Bill Graham's erudite
and fact-packed talk on 'The Education of Wesley's
Preachers' left us wondering whether Mr Wesley
was ever able to put into full effect his incredible
vision for the education of his preachers and
their children, but it will surely help us to
counter the view, still expressed in some circles,
that academic study is somehow 'unspiritual'.
The second presentation was by Geoffrey Fewkes,
a Baptist minister from Swansea, entitled 'Stages
in Salvation: John Wesley and Reader Harris'.
Harris, a QC by profession, founded the League
of Prayer, a holiness ministry, in 1891, and
Geoffrey's paper highlighted some significant
differences between the original Wesleyan teaching
and some of its later developments in the Holiness
movements. Another Baptist minister, Dr John
Colwell, from Spurgeon's College, spoke to us
about 'John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas on Sin
in the Christian'. We (and, we suspect, most
of those present) had never associated Aquinas
in any way with John Wesley, so it was a real
revelation. We wanted more! Lastly, Bill Parkes
gave us a fascinating picture of Lorenzo Dow,
the eccentric American preacher who made a number
of visits to Britain around the turn of the
Eighteenth Century. Dow was influential in stimulating
the first Camp Meetings on Mow Cop, which themselves
played a major part in the birth of Primitive
Methodism. Sadly, he ended his life in the toils
of Freemasonry: an awful warning to all of us
in any kind of ministry, and a reminder that
however great the gifts God has given us, and
however powerful the anointing of His Spirit,
we need always to hold ourselves accountable
to our brothers and sisters in order to avoid
'making a shipwreck' of the Faith. We returned
home stimulated and challenged, grateful for
a conference that had combined sound historical
scholarship with a surprising amount of relevant
application for today. We had indeed enjoyed
a 'feast'. The food served up by the College
chefs wasn't bad, either!
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