THE town hall in Tavistock was packed last Friday to hear national Christian leader Dennis Wrigley speak about 'Forgiveness and a Nation in Need'. Drawing on his personal experience in industry and politics at every level, including both Houses of Parliament, peace negotiations in Northern Ireland and the United Nations, Mr Wrigley reflected on the current state of society, in particular what we are doing to our children. It made uncomfortable listening but in many areas he felt the UK was close to social, moral, spiritual and financial collapse. Only when society recognised the full truth of the situation, individually and corporately, could it hope to address the problems, and forgiveness was the first step. He highlighted specific cases from his own experience such as the two leading terrorists in the IRA and UDF who, despite murdering many people, became Christians in prison and subsequently asked relatives of their victims for forgiveness and forgave each other, resulting in a deep reconciliation between communities. Mr Wrigley and his Maranatha team held a healing day in Tavistock Methodist Church the following day which was well attended by many people from different churches and other parts of the region — Maranatha is the Christian community he founded 27 years ago and consists of at least 10,000 Christians drawn from all denominations who work within their own churches and communities for unity, renewal and healing. Ruth Newman, chairman of Taste and See, thanked Mr Wrigley and his team for travelling from Manchester and giving many people the privilege of his knowledge, experience and insight into many areas of life. She also thanked Lisa Hair, of Dukes, who provided an excellent meal for 190 people with first class service. The next Taste and See dinner for women will take place on Thursday June 26 at 7pm in the Ordulph Arms. All women of any age are welcome. It is not a club and is open to anyone. For further information contact Ruth Newman on 01822 616859.
