Categories: uncategorized
Date: 13 May 2007 17:16:10
Today was our church anniversary and I have to say it was a great day, even if it in many ways totally summed our church up by the way it didn't go to plan.
Imagine the scene, with a couple of weeks to go the "typical" church anniversary is planned - visiting speakers are going to tell us about their church plant in Tractor Land, there will be a bar-b-q in the church garden where we will all sun ourselves before going for a walk before afternoon tea and a service of sharing and meditation (with communion).
In reality it didn't quite work like that. Due to a mix up with the visiting speakers about dates our normal pastor had to take the day (but could preach on whatever he liked), it poured with rain and so the bar-b-q turned into oven cooked sausages and burgers in the hall, after about 10 minutes the 6 of us who had decided to carry on with the walk idea said sod this and went into the church basement for tea and chat before going back to the church for another hot drink and the time of sharing and meditation involved about 15 people (but did involve some proper prayer and communion).
There was a real sense of community and family going on with all this though. For reasons I'm not going to go into detail about on a public space like this, this is going to be a difficult week for me church wise. (Sufficient to say that for a Baptist who has been in church membership in one place or another for 20 years the decision to resign church membership is not one taken lightly or easily -particularly when planning to remain an active attender of the church I was a member of and so inevitably I'm going to have to face the "why?" question this week when my decision is announced at the church meeting). However, I have to say the love I have recieved from those who are aware of my decision and particularly those who know the reasoning behind it has been amazing and it has underlined how our church really is family.
Things don't always go the way planned - as today showed, but we are still ready and able to make the best of the "real life" situation; I really feel lucky and blessed to be in the church I am.