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Good morning to you.Ìý Today and for the next few days, ministers and lay representatives from all over Britain will gather at Central Hall, Westminster for the annual meeting of the Methodist Conference – the body which is in charge of the Methodist Church.Ìý If you, or someone you know, belong to a local Methodist chapel, the chances are this big assembly won’t immediately have much impact.Ìý And yet, as with any human institution, there has to be a constitution – a place where the buck stops, and where decisions are taken which eventually will have to be worked out in smaller contexts – contexts which can feel remote from the impressive baroque staircase of the Westminster Central Hall.Ìý So I hope that in the next few days, those in charge will have in mind those local chapels and the people who attend them.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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As I say, it’s the same with any large institution.Ìý The other day, it was announced that the Girl Guides would no longer promise to serve God, but rather to ‘develop their beliefs’.Ìý My guess, and it is only a guess, is that some guide companies were pleased with that decision, but others, perhaps meeting in church halls and parading regularly in a local church service, were and are unhappy.Ìý Decision-makers must sometimes lead from the front and, like a government, consider the bigger picture and do things in the full knowledge of unpopular consequences.Ìý That’s why all leaders, whether of the Methodist Church, or of voluntary bodies, or of central and local government, deserve our prayers.Ìý It doesn’t mean they’re always right, or that we can’t disagree with their decisions.Ìý It’s an expression of our understanding and concern.

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May your kingdom come on earth, O God, and may those who have great responsibility attend to your Spirit’s guidance.Ìý Give them wisdom in leadership.Ìý Amen.