..... nicely kept property it was, but had no idea the Society dated from Wesley's day.
On your 150th Anniversary this is an inspiring thought, God brought your Society into being as part of his Spirit's great movement in the 18th century. You are not a Church which has arisen in after years through this movement, but part of its very origin.
The admirable historical outline this booklet contains shows that, like most Churches, you have had times both of prosperity and decline, but its work has continued because God has had need of it, and it has never cut itself off from His resources. The influence of this Church has gone out into the world in a way God alone fully knows, and every generation of its people has also found God's resources, meeting their own personal need through its teaching, fellowship and worship.
It would appear that Wesley found the mob who opposed without were more alive 'alive' than the people within the society. It too often is true that those outside the Church show more zeal than many within. If your Church with its history is to continue in God's purpose you must be careful always that this is not true of you. If you will do this, God will lead you into whatever is His plan for the Universal Church of the future.
May God's blessing be on all you do.
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd) John H. Fisher
Superintendent Minister,
Frome and Shepton Mallet Circuit
Dear Friends,
It is indeed with a true sense of privilege that I record a few words in such an excellent booklet at this historical moment. On this the 150th Anniversary of our Oakhill Methodist Church, we all rejoice in that which God has enabled to so many down through the years. Ours is surely a goodly heritage and although we can never live in the past, we are in so many ways both the products and beneficiaries of it.
The Methodist Church in Oakhill stands as a true Memorial to the dedication and sacrifice of our forbears. They certainly had their days of grave problems and real depression, but in and through them all, theu have kept the faith, proved the divine resources, and by God's grace have thus made possible to us a continuing ministry and witness.
