May,'24 Letter
Due to Dcn. Marcianne’s bereavement on the sudden death of her son John (for which we ask for prayers for the family), we have included a previous minister’s letter on Pentecost from May, 2008 by one of our former ministers Rev. Carl Howarth.:-
I think I’ve said before that when I was a youngster I used to think that “Whit” stood for “Witness” (despite the spelling) as each Whit Sunday at my home church in Manchester we used to have our “Whit Walk” or, as it was called, the Annual Procession of Witness. Hence the reason why I thought “Whit” stood for “Witness”. I was of course wrong and yet right! The word “Whit” is of course an abbreviation of the word “White” and refers to the white baptismal and confirmation clothes that were worn by those who were received into membership of the Church at Pentecost. Nevertheless even though the word “Whit” has a different meaning, Whit Sunday or Pentecost is very much about Witness.
It is of course the day when filled with the Holy Spirit the first disciples spilled out onto the streets of Jerusalem to witness, in the power of that Spirit, to the resurrection of Jesus. In our Fellowship Bible Studies, and also in sermons, I have commented many times about the phrase “We are witnesses to all this” which occurs more than once in the Acts of the Apostles. Those early disciples did not believe that all were called to be “Evangelists”, but they did believe that all were called to be “Witnesses”.
The need for Christian disciples to witness to their faith is greater than ever in the world in which we find ourselves today and we must not forget, especially at Pentecost, that it is still our task to witness to the resurrection. We are not all given the gifts of the Evangelist. We don’t all find it easy to articulate our faith, but just as someone who is inarticulate is still expected to give evidence if a witness to a crime, so we are still expected to witness to our faith in Christ in the way we live, in the things we do and in the words we say.
Now of course I recognise as much as anyone how difficult that is in this day and age, but we must not forget that God continues to empower his people for that task
I hope that in the season of Pentecost, which begins three weeks after this Newsletter is published, that those of us who know the Risen Christ in our lives and our experience will be enabled by the Spirit to witness to His Resurrection
With all best wishes,
Yours
Carl