God’s faithfulness is our history
Dear Friends
Greetings in the name of the Resurrected Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Jesus prayed “Thy Kingdom come” and encouraged His disciples to pray to His Father. “Prayer and Peace” cannot be separated. As per the Church Calendar, we have Ascension on the 9th and Pentecost on the 19th of May. May we use these 10 days as “Prayer days” to wait upon the Lord and to understand the real meaning of ‘spirit-filled life’ in our Christian journey.
I thank God for the great opportunity He gave me for the last 16 years as your minister to share with you the ever-living presence of Christ’s stories. As you know my focus was to proclaim the Gospel of Christ which is ever true for those who trust in Him. Now I am leaving at the end of May. Saying ‘Goodbye’ never brings a joyful atmosphere, but I would like to encourage you to realise that Christ is the uniting factor and He is always faithfully with us even though we depart from each other.
God called me to join LTCC in the year 2008 and allowed me to be journeying with you till today. I found His faithfulness in my ministry to be extraordinary and not easy to speak of in detail. I have been able to see how the children who were baptised, the young people who were confirmed, those who participated in the VBS (Vocation Bible Schools) and the members of the Junior Church, are growing in their faith journey, and that is marvellous. I enjoyed seeing those whose wedding blessings were conducted sharing their faith in their lives and coming to church with their children.
The uniqueness of our worship is singing traditional Tamil lyrics, which always seems to bring a sense of heaven into our experience. The hybrid worship (Zoom and in-person) introduced due to COVID, has continued and will be never forgotten, as it brings international Tamil community worship into our worshipping life journey. I thank God I enjoyed the ministry through being with prayer Group coordinators, Choir leaders, choristers and musicians. Being with them showed me how God, who called me, is faithful. I recollect and thank God for those who supported the worshipping life of LTCC as Council members and responsibility-holders such as Presidents, Secretaries, Youth Leaders, Junior Church coordinators and others. I thank you for your time and talents during my ministerial life journey with you all. May God bless you all for all your small and greater efforts with me in mission for the last wonderful years.
It is appropriate that the months of May and June are allotted for us as “Thanksgiving Services” in our worshipping life of LTCC. On Sunday 5th May at 4:00pm we gather together in Putney Methodist Church to remind ourselves joyfully about the beginning of our Church 52 years ago. My final Service with LTCC will be on Sunday 26th May at 4:00pm at River Court Methodist Church, and I give thanks to God for 16 years (2008 to 2024) of my ministry with LTCC. Please bring your friends and families to these services, and together we can appreciate God’s faithfulness in our church life and encourage one another in our church life.
Revd Prasad Vasanthakumar will be LTCC’s next Minister and his welcoming service will be on 23rd June at 4:00pm at River Court Methodist Church during our Anniversary Sunday at Hammersmith. I request you to give all the support he needs in the life and work of LTCC. Pray for his ministry and family.
History should not be forgotten. It needs always to be remembered in our lives. Sharing our history gives us strength to see God’s mysterious ways meaningfully in our midst and to understand His faithfulness to us so that we glorify His name alone. I bless you and your families to hold Christ’s light to bring many more into our worshipping life.
Christ is our light and He shines in all our darkness. May the faith of each of you in Christ be the hallmark of our Church journey. I bless everyone to stand together to learn, to reflect the Word of God in your lives, and to love each other as Jesus loved us. I leave the church with a tremendous understanding which God taught me through you and your faith journey. Pothagar and I thank you for being with us in our joys and in our struggles.
I know LTCC is an ecumenical body, full of individual differences and commonalities, and in this, LTCC gives the world church a model of real Christian Unity. This Unity can be given only when you are united in Spirit. Pray for us as we pray for you, wherever we are, to continue our journey together.
God bless you and your families
In His mission
Revd Jessie Anand
Minister, LTCC May 2024