‘One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.’ (Psalm 27:4)

The beauty of this verse never fails to take my breath away. It is as though the world stops spinning and everything pauses as I realise the deepest longings of my soul – to enter into the holy place, the temple of God and His presence. 

Yes, I know that God is omnipresent. I know that we come to Him in faith and His presence is always with us no matter where we go or where we are. But my love of history and sense of being part of the ‘great crowd of witnesses’ (1) means that I seek out those places where God has been worshipped for years, centuries and even millennium. I love to tread the ancient paths that lead to abbeys, cathedrals and chapels. The worship that I offer today in my generation mingles with the eternity of voices crying, 'Hallelujah!'(2) to the Lord God, creator and sovereign of all. This is my small part in the endless praise of my Heavenly Father and what a privilege it is.

This, then, is why I love the church. God’s people, whom He has called to be holy and set apart for Him; the people He loves, the folk we will spend eternity with. And since my mid-teens when I grasped the picture of the body of Christ given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, I have made a commitment to do whatever I can to contribute to the ‘common good’ of the church.

Over the years this desire has led me to different areas of ministry in different countries and parts of the UK. Aged 18 I helped with humanitarian aid trips to Eastern Europe supporting churches and ministries that were serving in the new opened countries of the former soviet block. And then I headed to California and spent some time with the Vineyard church. Aged 21 I moved to Belfast and worked for a mission organisation called Logos Ministries whilst also living and ministering in a very rough, paramilitarily controlled area of south-west Belfast. After meeting my husband we moved to Stoke-on-Trent where John worked for UCB and we helped a church that had lost their leaders. In 2008 John was called to pastor at Rosedale Community Church and this is now ‘home’.

It is my love of God’s church and the desire to encourage its health and growth that causes me to serve the Connexion at present as a Trustee. The role is a voluntary one and we all bring our own gifts and contributions (like the ‘members of the body’ that Paul talks about), our own peculiarities and personalities. But we are all followers of Jesus and genuinely care about the people in the Connexion, those who make up our past heritage, those who are members today, and those who will follow on after us.

My prayer is to faithfully serve in my time. Perhaps you too feel a passion for God’s people and have gifts and talents to offer that will be invaluable? Please do consider joining us and experiencing the joy and privilege of working in partnership with God and others for the sake of His church, His people, His bride.

Bethany Green, Trustee and Pastor at Rosedale Community Church

(1) Hebrews 12:1

(2) Revelation 19:1