Rev Bob Mitchell (Chairman of PACT), Michele Guinness and husband Rev Peter Guinness
Michele Guinness was the guest speaker at the summer talk of Petworth Area Churches Together (PACT), on May 15
Michele Guinness, related by marriage to Arthur Guinness the brewer of 1776, was at her sparkling best in Petworth.
Celebrating 50 years of her Messianic Christianity, the evening started with a dramatised reading from Nehemiah 8, when the Israelites celebrated rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and Ezra the priest revived the law.
In the books of Moses, partying is a way of life – pageantry, processions and new wine, with men dancing joyously.
She asked, “If Jesus walked into the church today, what would he think?”
There was not, she conceded, much evidence of joy.
Thus we must give our children memories of a joyous God who loves celebrating. There are many references in the Gospels of Jesus eating with others. St John’s Gospel shows Jesus as funny, joyous and one who loved to party, such as when he supplied excellent wine at the wedding at Cana as well feeding the 5,000. We put Jesus in a box but he springs out bigger than we can imagine.
We must retell the story of Jesus with drama and stories, with simple pleasures such as celebrating birthdays. And our elebrations can be a witness just as when Nehemiah said “The joy of the Lord is my strength”.
Gerald Gresham Cooke
HEART really does seem to reach the parts of our region that other methods of advertising (flyers, shoe leather, petrol) don’t reach.
To promote your event to churchgoers in other towns in our region, see the Events section of this newspaper. Remember, people aren’t going to google ‘Brilliant evenings at a church in a 25-mile radius’!