David Ralph

A Day Full of Surprises

Yesterday I had the opportunity too visit to Anglican (Church of England) churches.  One was in the morning and the other in the evening.  When I athought about going to the Anglican church the immediate thoughts that came to my mind were irrelevent  and boring and traditional filled with liturgy and formality.  I could not have been more than wromg.  In the morning Sue and I attended a church that was planted by a former Guelph resident through Nicky Gumbel’s church Holy Trinity Brompton.  It was a great experience.  The music was just like Lakeside’s – done with the same degree of excellence.  There was a great use of relevant images and videos and the teaching was good as well.  We sort of felt like we were home only three thousand miles away.  Last evening (yes we went to church twice yesterday) we went to St. Andrews Church.  It was a traditional building but the service was less than traditonal.  There was a great worship in music time which reminded me of the Praise Venue at Lakeside and the teaching was very thought provoking on the whole idea of God’s creation from Genesis 1.  The thing that surprised me the most was the number of people who attended and how many of them were 35 and under.  The church was almost full.  One of the things that they have done in the church in England is to offer Sunday night services that are the same as the morning services but are available for all of those who can’t make a Sunday morning commitment because of family activities and commitments.  Is this a trend that will find its way to Canada?  If the goal is reaching people is this something that the Canadian church should consider?

Well it was a day full of surprises – good surprises.  God spoke to my heart.