On Tuesday I took myself off up the Tyne Valley to Hexham to meet up with ministers and church leaders of the group 'Together Northumberland'. This is an occasional gathering for those involved in various denominations (and none) throughout the County. As usual it was great meeting up again and discovering what was happening around the region in individual contexts, and contribute prayer, support and encouragement for one another in our very different situations.
As I walked up through the town I noticed a plaque on a wall which intrigued me....
It was attributed to 'The Methodist Ranters'....! Well, I don't believe I fall into either of these categories but I couldn't wait to find out more when I got home via the wonders of the interweb... here's what I found out... Turns out this group was a breakaway from the 'Orthodox' Methodists (themselves of course a breakaway from the Church of England) in Hexham, and were marked out by their 'hellfire' style of preaching throughout the region.
As far as I know there are no such ranters among the Together Northumberland group (no doubt I'll be corrected on this score, and severely ranted at, if this is the case!) Our focus is more gentle hopefully, and more concerned with the journey of faith, the removal of religious barriers and the recognition of God-given individual freedoms, which should surely more closely be hallmarks of followers of Christ.
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