Candidating for the Pulpit, Rev Brian Moodie illustrated the patience and care Jesus had for HIs disciples by meeting them at their level of comfort and understanding - loving people just where they are, with no prior conditions. He didn't have expectations that they couldn't live up to.  Jesus met them at their level of commitment and understanding. And how, in being received by Jesus, change began to take place in them from the inside.

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." (John 16: 12)

God receives each of us in the same way - just as we are. He does not expect us to be up to a certain level of maturity in our spiritual journey that we are not ready for. He says to each of us, "I have much more to say to you..."

Jesus went on to say, "when the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth".

Rev Moodie explained how he believed that the "truth" Jesus spoke about was not some body of knowledge, not certain facts, not even certain things that had to be grasped intellectually or believed about God. No, the Spirit of Truth is a different kind of truth. For Jesus truth was something to live, to be revealed in one's life and actions. 

Jesus invites us to become true and sincere human beings - to see to it that our hearts, our words and our actions, particularly with regard to our weaknesses and failings, are true. Integrity, he said, is about making sure that you are the same person on the inside, as you are on the outside. Jesus invites us today, to become sincere and true human beings, to live a transparent life.

Jesus said, "when the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth". 

Rev Moodie challenged the congregation: What might that mean for me and you today?

One of life's greatest fears, said Mr Moodie, concerns the future - things that we can't predict. However if we are living true then Jesus has promised that, "the Spirit of truth will tell you what is yet to come".

The Spirit of God reminds us that, whatever difficulties might lie ahead, nothing can separate us from the love of god, in Christ Jesus.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 38, 39)

All will be well. And all Manner of things will be well.(Julian of Norwich). God's love will have the final say.

As he finished, the Rev Moodie left the congregation with three questions:
1 What might it mean for you today, to know that God receives you just as you are?

2 What might it mean for you today, to become more and more, a person of truth - to become a true and sincere human being?

3 What might it mean for you today, as you look perhaps towards an uncertain future, to know that God's love will have the final say, that all will be well and that nothing in all creation will be able to separate you from the love of God?

Pulpit Vacany Update:
12th June
Congregation vote to confirm the terms and conditions as agreed by the Session and Committee of 'The Call' for Rev Brian Moodie.

19th June
Following our Children’s Day Service we will hold our vote on Calling the Rev Brian Moodie and if at least two thirds (67%) of those present agree to Calling him, we will Sign 'The Call’.

Click here for a Personal Profile of Rev Moodie.

Brian has been involved in a rich and varied ministry that started in 1995 with four years in youth ministry in his home church in Pinetown.
 
Brian candidated for the Methodist ministry in 1998 and was received as a Probationer Minister in 1999 in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
 
He has a Masters Degree in Theology through the University of South Africa.
 
During his time as a Methodist Minister, Brian served in a number of congregations spending 4 years in cross cultural ministry in the black townships of Soweto and Duduza which included work in informal settlements south of Johannesburg. He felt a particular calling to be involved in a ministry of reconciliation in light of South Africa’s divided and fractured Apartheid history.
 
His ministry also included a year in a small rural town, a year serving in a new church plant that worshiped in a Pretoria school, 5 years in a large multi-staffed urban Church east of Johannesburg where he helped to lead some of the contemporary worship teams across the three Sunday services and 1 year licensed as a Methodist minister to serve as an assistant to the Rector of a large Anglican church in the South of Johannesburg in 2011.
 
Brian was seconded by the Methodist Church for two years (2010-2011) to serve in an academic position at TEEC (Theological Education by Extension College), an ecumenical, distance learning institution in Johannesburg that was established in the mid 1970's by the South African Council of Churches during the height of Apartheid. It was established particularly in order to provide academic theological training to those who could not afford regular university fees, and those excluded from formally 'white' universities due to race and skin colour.
 
From before his ordination as a Methodist Minister, Brian had a deep interest in other religions, especially those with meditative and contemplative traditions. Having applied for a leave of absence, Brian and his wife Wendy volunteered for 18 months (2012-2013) at the Emoyeni Buddhist Retreat Centre north of Johannesburg while he sought to work through some of his theological struggles. This was partly brought about due to the influx of narrow fundamentalist literature from the USA into the Methodist Church in South Africa.
 
The experience culminated in his resignation from the Methodist Church at the beginning of 2013 as it felt like a tight, albeit it loved shoe that no longer fitted properly. Resigning was however painful and difficult.
 
At the beginning of 2014, Brian embarked on a process of affiliation with a very liberal independent Catholic order (not Roman Catholic) called the White Robed Monks of St Benedict.
 
While operating in the Catholic liturgical tradition, the order provides space for people to come to their own conclusions on how to interpret doctrinal matters with a practical emphasis on living out the compassion of Christ in the world, based on the Greatest Commandment. The order does not have congregations and has an inclusive ministry directed to those who feel alienated or excluded from the Church. Although it provides limited financial income, for Brian it has been a privilege to find a liberal space where his calling can be expressed and where he has had the honour of helping some who even regard themselves as non-religious to touch a sense of the sacred in their lives.
 
In mid 2014 Brian started working in a part-time administrative position at a local Tibetan Buddhist Centre as the Centre-Coordinator, an enriching experience.
 
In applying for the pulpit vacancy at the Dromore Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church, Brian has felt a resonance with the liberal tradition of the denomination in creating space for people to think for themselves while seeking to follow the way of Christ’s love and compassion in the world.  Brian has been drawn by the possibility of ministering in Dromore - a place where his ongoing call and vocation to be in pastoral ministry could once again be fulfilled in a full-time capacity within a church setting. 

Brian is married to Wendy. They have two much loved cats named George and Annie, George an affectionate teddy-bear and Annie a small but fearless adventurer.