To everyone at Wesley Centenary Methodist Church, Hamilton Road, Bangor.

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Since this is my first opportunity to write for you, I want to say how pleased we are as a family to be settling into our new home and ministry in Hamilton Road, Bangor - or is it Wesley Centenary?
Already I am beginning to experience first hand the many activities of the Church and to identify with the many challenges and opportunities before all of us.

    As I write to you I am reminded of something I saw in the Church just today: "Build our Church, Build our Future." This makes me think that this is perhaps the greatest challenge and opportunity before us as we head into the future and contemplate the financial implications of running our present church programmes and plan for the future with our God-given new building vision. All of this is set against the backdrop of 'Credit Crunch', 'Economic Slump' and 'Fiscal downturn'. These are terms which are very much a part of our vocabulary as we now view the world and our own circumstances in a very much different light and perhaps don't feel as secure as we used to or even adventurous when it comes to Church planning.

    But why should that be? The world financial systems may have been turned upside down but God has not. Furthermore, all that has happened (and was predicted would happen by some economists) should have motivated us to be rooted in real investment and security - the Kingdom of God. Did not Jesus teach us that by laying up our treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6: 19-24) we would in turn not need to be anxious (Matthew 6: 25-34)? I remain convinced that regardless of the prevailing economic conditions as we "Bring the full tithes in" God will indeed "open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need" (Malachi 3: 10). Surely with such reliable promises we should not doubt how our own personal needs will be met, how the present needs of the Church will be met and how we can see God provide for all we hope to do for the future Church buildings!

    God bless you as you join with us in catching the vision and investing in God's spiritual capital.

    Yours in Christ,
    Colin.