6:15 at the local beauty spot. 22 people and one dog – might have been more if the clocks hadn’t changed that morning and if it was a bit warmer. Service run by another local Vicar, i.e. a very Anglican read-the-sheet affair which makes it very difficult for the Holy Spirit to break in and inspire you with any genuine worship. But to be fair, the temperature was -5 degrees Celsius which is clearly not enough. We were given the wrong time and had already been waiting for 20 frozen minutes before it even started. Also, to be fair, there were some good points in the service, reflecting on the resurrection as a time when we can also come out of the dark periods of our lives and when dead dreams can live again.
11:00. Packed church – wardens bringing out extra chairs. Very warm and lively minimally-liturgical service including the baptism of a teenage lad and about 9 (I lost count) ‘reaffirmations of baptismal vows by total immersion’, age range 40-84. It was good see old people making that kind of decision. I was reminded of how ‘they walked away, starting with the eldest’. The old are the ones who have the maturity to appraise their lives with appropriate sobriety, and they can lead the way in this kind of thing.
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