Most of the churches that are members of the Melksham Family of Churches have one thing in common – they are very old! The youngest is Queensway Chapel, built in the 1960s and the oldest is St. Michael & All Angels Church, most of which we see today dates from the 13th century!
Almighty God, whom we all worship and serve, is the God of eternity. He has always been; and He will always be. He has promised through His Son Jesus Christ that His love for mankind has never ceased and will never cease throughout all time.
As Christians, His people are called to show God’s love on His behalf to all around us and over the years the ways in which we do this have changed as society has changed (not always for the better) through developments in science, technology and people’s knowledge and skills.
The activities of churches of today are not at all like they would have been in the 13th century, or even the 1960s. But contrary to perhaps many people’s perceptions, the churches are not old-fashioned, stuffy, backward looking and irrelevant. They are made up of people actively engaged as disciples of Jesus Christ, as closely resembling Him as human beings can be, serving the lonely, the desperate and the unfortunate, as well as reminding those who feel they can live without Him of the joy and peace that can only be experienced when living lives submitted to His Holy Spirit.
In the next few issues of the MIN, each church will share details of how they are accomplishing this in our community today, in the 21st century. I hope you enjoy reading about them and offer you an invitation to join with any that takes your fancy. You will be most welcome and your life will be changed for the better.
Alan McFall
