Bishop’s Message

This is the opening line of a hymn by Charles Wesley which Methodists traditionally sing every year at the start of their annual meetings. We will sing the same at the opening of our General Conference meeting on 2 September.

And are we yet alive, and see each other’s face?
Glory and praise to Jesus give for his redeeming grace.

The hymn inspires a steady hope in God as the Giver and Taker of life. Are we yet alive? Let us give praise and thanks to God for each new day.

But, of course, there will be some of us who are no longer alive since our last meeting. At this General Conference, we will pause to give thanks to God for the fruitful labours of pastors who have passed on to glory since the last time the General Conference met in 2020. Why don’t we all pause right now to express a prayer of thanksgiving for someone who has recently passed on from this earth?

Wesley’s hymn reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s attitude to life and death. In Romans 14:8 (NIV):

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord.
So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

None of us knows for certain for how much longer we will live, or when death will lead us home to God. But we encourage each other always to fix our minds on Christ who “died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9 NIV).

So are we yet alive? Then let us “live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord”. Amen.