Church again

We went to that church again this Sunday.

I'll call it St P's.

It was very different to last week.

Mostly different people, nearly all well into their Saga holdiay eligibility, if you now what I mean.

The service was led by the LOM (locally ordained minister - ie a fully ordained minister supporting the Vicar like a curate but permanent), and the sermon was given by a Reader who I receognised. The service was much more liturgical than I am used to. The 'learning difficulties' group was absent. The hymns were not so modern. The minister and reader were both robed - the reader in an Alb. It was a communion service, said not sung, but was more high church tha I am used to, with water being mingled with the wine and the priest finishing the leftovers, but just supermarket sliced-white rather than wafers. The altar rail is arranged as a hexagon around the wooden table altar.

The Readers sermon was deadly dull, though it contained some good material and soundly explained the way of salvation in a way most satisfactory to an evangelical like me, though I was not expecting him to be that way inclined.

Basically, had this been our first visit, we would probably not have stayed.

But it was good. We had already been convinced that this was our calling.

Our toddler was still allowed to roam at the back, and her voice was just one among the general sussurus of children. except hers was the one that stood out when she announced 'I want a biscuit".

Afterwards the minister took a log time to talk to me, and will probably pop round to the hosue for a visit fairly soon. (panic - better get the hoover and the paintbrush out)

I also spoke to the Reader, who vaguely recognised me, and seemed warm to the idea of me joining the Readers team in due course.

During the peace, with it being a fairly small congregation, everybody spoke to everybody, and they amde ad eliberate attempt to speak to us as well. So we felt very welcomed, much more so than in the church in the next town.

So its looking good!