Categories: church
Tags: church
Date: 30 July 2006 14:07:11
When I got back to Glasgow on Wednesday night, I learnt that a road very near my flat was currently cordoned off due to an "unsafe building". As we approached it from the airport I could see that the cordon was placed right by St Frodo's, which (fortunately!) was still standing and clearly wasn't the problem. I thought nothing more of it until Friday evening, when I went to a barbecue at the Rector's place, where I learnt that the unsafe building was actually the one next door to St Frodo's and is now in the process of being demolished. However, as it is so close to the church there's some sort of support which is up against our walls and that particular bit has to be demolished very slowly and carefully, and in the meantime nobody's allowed in the church building until that's done. So this morning we had our service in a local theatre, and I must say I was really impressed with the improvisation in the arrangements.
Ironically, for a church which sees so few baptisms (looking at the list of these things, for the last several years we've averaged one infant baptism a year - presumably up here most people take their little ones to the local kirk to be baptised), today was the day for this year's. I had wondered how the family (not regulars at St F's) would feel about their son's baptism being moved from our lovely church building to a blacked out side room in a theatre, but it transpires that just before the couple's wedding a few years back the church they got married in had been struck by lightning, so I think they actually found it quite amusing and took it all in their stride! I'm not sure the formica trestle table altar will become a regular feature, but I'd be quite happy if the comfy seats did! As suspected there was no incense - I suspect the theatre's smoke alarms wouldn't have thought much to that! - but despite the unusual setting I thought it all went rather well.