Platform Magazine featuring Leslie Newton

Methodism’s BEST YEARS are Ahead of it!

Matt: Leslie, tell us about yourself.

Leslie: I used to be an accountant but now work for the Methodist Church. I have a curious job where I don't look after one church. I have a regional role a bit like a ‘Bishop’ supporting about 200 churches across rural Yorkshire.

Matt: From an accountant to a Methodist minister. That’s a bit of a shift!

Leslie: I know. I was never sure as a young person what I really, really wanted to do. I ended up drifting into accountancy. I think that’s the truth. My mum and dad were Methodist and it was part of the way I was just brought up and I never left because my best friends are in the church. So it's like my friendship place; my happy place. So I've never left and faith has come into all of that.

Matt: Are you interested in history?

Leslie: I’m more interested in the future. I've learned as I've gotten older that if you’re going to think wisely about the future, you do well to have a look at history. It's amazing how often you can find the root of the future by looking at what has happened in the past, I think.

Matt: How did the Methodism Church start?

Leslie: Methodism emerged out of the Church of England in the eighteenth century when John Wesley, who was an Anglican vicar priest, experienced something fresh about God. He travelled the country on horseback preaching outdoors and formed all sorts of new communities. That was the birth of Methodism.

Matt: What’s your vision for the future of the Methodist Church?

Leslie: I love the Methodist Church but we need to recognise that we've become one of those institutions. That's not to say it's not doing good things, but that sense of movement and dynamism has wained. My vision is that we can reclaim the past and find as we look back to our roots what it was that gave the energy to be transformational. Some people say that Methodism stopped us from having a civil war in this country— that’s impactful!

Matt: What lessons do you think the modern church can draw from historic Methodism?

Leslie: We are at our best as a church when we’re a movement. I don't think it's for the centre to tell the circumference what they should be doing.

Matt Bird founder of PublishU, talks with Leslie Newton—a kind of ‘Bishop’ in the Methodist Church.

PLATFORM

We have an amazing array of transformational things happening up and down the country in all sorts of different locations. My vision is that we mobilise people and encourage and enable them to be filled with God's grace in a way that spills out into our communities.

Matt: Sounds great! So Leslie, what's your highest hope for your book?

Leslie: I hope that it will start a deeper conversation within the Methodist

Church; that it will be a driver of new freshness of thinking that will challenge us to be more creative. I hope it gives a renewed confidence, because sometimes we can get a little bit anxious and down at heel about things and feel like our best years are behind us and that we’re managing decline. I don't think that's God's future for us. As one American Methodist said, ‘Methodism’s best years are ahead of it.’ I’d like to say ‘amen’ to that.

EVERYONE HAS A BOOK IN THEM

Do you have a story or a message that you are passionate about communicating?

One of the single most powerful ways you can do that is by writing a book.

You may feel that what you want to write about has been written beforetrust me it has not. You have a unique upbringing, family, education, work and life experiences which gives you a unique voice much like the uniqueness of your finger print.

Who will read your book? Many of the people you know will buy and read your book because someone they know has become a globally published author. Beyond the people who know you is a world of people who can be inspired about your book.

So is there something you feel is holding you back from writing your book? Maybe a negative voice that says, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’m not sure’, ‘I’m too busy’, ‘I’m not ready’ or ‘I can’t afford it’. It’s time to put these selflimiting believes on mute and declare, ‘Yes, I Can’.

A recent graduate said, “I never thought I would write a book, let alone in 100-days. Now I’m asking what else have I told myself I cannot do that I actually can.”

Another graduate said, “My children have seen me write and publish a book and are now growing up fully expecting to become published authors too!”

Writing a book will have a transformative impact on you and the people around you. So how do you get started?

I would like to offer you a free gift…

‘My Book Idea’ is a workbook that will enable you to develop your book ideas and choose which of them to use for your book. CLICK HERE

Then enrol in one of our upcoming ‘Writing My Book’ programmes to enable you to write your book within 100-days. CLICK HERE

I very much look forward to being your book coach!

By Matt Bird, Author of twenty books and Founder of PublishU