Are you someone who gets up early? Or needs the radio on to get back to sleep? Whichever you are, you may well have come across Radio 4’s “Prayer for the Day” – less than three minutes long, but something good to start the day with. One of your webmaster’s Christmas presents this year was the new PftD Volume 2 anthology, subtitled “More Reflections for Daily Inspiration” (ISBN 978-1-78028-966-3). What did he find for 1 January but the 2014 entry written by Leslie Griffiths, who you’ll remember from last March’s Centenary Service. Dr Griffiths reminded us that we often face the New Year’s clean slate by making resolutions:

“Methodists begin the New Year with what we call a covenant service. We set out our good intentions in a context where we remember the God who has always kept the promises he’s made to us. Our New Year resolutions don’t depend on our being strong enough to keep them, but are seen as a response to the unfailing and unfathomable love of our maker. So we make our commitments knowing that God will help us to keep them.”

Then he quoted the traditional form of the covenant given on the image and at this link. We’ll be holding our joint covenant service on 22 January and no doubt we will be challenged then to think of the implications of these words for our partnership and our walk and witness together in 2017. Be prepared!