We have just had an amazing weekend and the words to the song we sang on Sunday morning sum it up beautifully – the overwhelming, never ending reckless love of God. This is why…..
It seems our Christmas holidays have finally now come to and end; why shouldn’t they as it is now almost the middle of January. Last Wednesday Hannah drove Becky back to Exeter and stayed for a few days as a little sisterly holiday. On Friday afternoon Rachel and I drove down to my Mum in North Somerset and be there for Hannah’s pitstop on her way up to Wales on the following day.
So on Saturday morning, I followed Rachel and Hannah all the way up to North Wales as we escorted her back to the North Wales coast. It was a long journey and Hannah is still a relatively inexperienced driver and not used to driving 300 miles in a day. We stayed with her on Saturday night and returned home late yesterday.
While that was our itinerary, it has been a reflective time. This couldn’t be more so following the morning service at Bangor Hope Church. The service was wonderful.
Firstly the church layout was different and definitely one of the advantages of meeting in a school hall, rather than have the rigidity of a conventional church building. Imagine a large, modern hall. In the centre was a piano and a drum kit. Alongside a guitarist and a singer. Chairs were all around, in a circle, three or four deep. This gave a sense of connecting with others and all being equal in God’s sight.
We all sang some songs. In between some folk spontaneously stood up and prayed or read a couple of verses from the Bible. Nothing overly planned, I liked that.
Then, the pastor spoke
He is American. He posed the question “what is God up to?”. He spoke of the importance of relationships on all levels with each other and within the communities in which we live. He spoke of the need to love those around us, to foster togetherness more, to slow our lives down and choose simplicity in our lifestyle.
He developed this further with a number of strands to consider in how we live our lives: acceptance of each other and an invitation to bless others, humility, belonging, valuing diversity, being available, being transformational and a few others.
Such open leadership
The pastor then spoke of relationships with other churches and a possible vision for the future; but these are just early thoughts, kicking ideas around and a genuine need to know what people thought. We were invited to discuss this in little groups and feedback. He warmly welcomed all comments in such an enlightened and accommodating way. I do warm to this kind of leadership and style, very laissez-faire.
Since then
My mind has been chewing this over. How do we apply this in our lives, here in Dunstable? Much to think through and consider. It was during our drive home I was reflecting on what the pastor said. It was certainly very powerful.
The first day of the rest of my life
We drove home when it was dark, along the A55 which runs along the coast. The road was mostly quiet and although Rachel was driving it reminded me of the time when I drove home back in August, just after retiring and paying Hannah a visit. It was definitely a case of “the first day of the rest of my life” and going from one phase of life to another.
So there’s much to reflect on in terms of how we relate to those we already know and those who we will come to know. A few ideas are knocking around, we will have to see how this whole weekend shapes our 2019. Could be quite exciting!
I took the above photo yesterday. After church we drove over to Rhosneigr beach on Anglesey. It is such a reminder that even in the middle of the winter when everything is drab and cold, there is still colour, light and hope.