Pastoral Letter # 1
Fish Hoek Methodist Church
Pastoral Letter – January 2026
Dear friends,
I begin this letter with the words of a special blessing. I pray that God would make these words come to life in our community and in our homes in 2026.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ – Numbers 6:24-26
The idea of a ‘New Year’ and ‘fresh start’ may have already lost a little of its gloss, but I wanted to share a few thoughts with us as we head deeper into the year.
As always it is good to remind ourselves of why we exist as a church community and where God could be calling us to serve. The 3 words that motivate us, Gather, Grow, Go, are taken from the words of Jesus, in the Great Commission:
“Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim (disciples), immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 (Complete Jewish Bible)
It is the idea of “immersing people into the reality of God” that truly excites me and as a church leadership team we are praying that Jesus will guide us into this experience. We want to encourage you to get involved in this call and to use your gifts to serve God and others.
There are several events happening in the first quarter of 2026 and we would urge you to diarise them please. We would value your support at each of these:
Pancakes and Ash Wednesday – 18th February 2026
Traditionally some churches gather on Shrove Tuesday to prepare for Lent and to enjoy some scrumptious pancakes. Understanding how busy most of us are, we would like to combine the two events into one, so we can also prepare for the season of Lent. We are inviting you to join us from 5pm on the 18th of February (Wednesday) for a time of fellowship and of course, eating pancakes. Our Ash Wednesday service will then begin at 7pm. If you can volunteer to make pancake batter, cook pancakes or even serve hot drinks, please contact the church office.
40 Day Journey
Growing as a Christian is not an easy task. Many of us try our best, but we still need encouragement and guidance. For Lent this year, we are making a special appeal that you would commit to being part of a small cluster of people (3 or 4), who would embark on a spiritual journey together. We will assist by providing the material and encouragement for this journey, as well as preaching on various topics at the Sunday services in Lent.
I realise this may push some of us further out of our comfort zones, but please seriously think about this. You can choose your own companions to journey with, or you can sign up and we will gladly link you with some other folk in the church. Sign-up sheets will be available soon.
Kids Church and Teen Church
We have started the year on a good note, but please continue to pray and support our ministries to the younger generation. The world in which the children are growing up is very different and challenging, so we believe that this is a crucial calling for our church. At present we have the 3 main groups meeting on a Sunday:
- Toddlers – Preschool up to Grade 2
- Juniors – Grades 3 to 7
- Teen Church – Grades 8-12
Young Mums’ Fellowship Group.
We plan to start this new initiative very soon! Meeting twice a month, this group will provide a safe space for you to bring along your babies and toddlers (they’ll remain with us) while sharing fellowship and a short Bible study together. It might get noisy and distracting but always loving and caring.
Contact Heather Davies-Coleman (073 578 6381) if interested or if you know someone who might like to attend.
Church Camp – Rocklands (August 2026).
We would like to build greater friendships and community this year, so we have taken the plunge and booked Rocklands Campsite, in Simon’s Town. Please diarise the weekend of the 13-15 August, even if you are only able to attend as a day visitor. More details will be communicated in time, but please put this into your calendar now.
Holy Week
Holy Week begins on the 29th of March with Palm Sunday. We will host evening worship services on each night of Holy Week, building up to our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. We will host the Circuit Ministers during the week, as it is always good to remind ourselves that we belong to the wider circuit.
New Members “Meet and Greet” – 12th February.
We would love to spend time with all new members, or people who are interested in finding out about joining the church. This is an informal gathering from 6-7pm and will be held on the 12th of February 2026. We look forward to sharing with you. God bless you all.
Living in Grace
Delme, Kim, Declan, Nathan and Joshua