Pentecost surprises Last Sunday we decided to do something different for Pentecost. Tea Time Worship morphed, for one Sunday only, into Cafe church. Out went the horse-shoe of chairs, in came round tables and sitting through the songs. Out went the talk, and in came interactive activity - getting the congregation to draw pictures of their houses and blu-tac them on the wall next to the street name - to try to show something about our footprint in the community. Even giving a chance to write any questions they might have which I can then pick up for future weeks and talks. Not just hot drinks at the end of the service, but at the beginning too.

It worked rather well, and the look on the face of one of the elderly regulars was priceless! "This isn't church! It's not how we do it!" But isn't that exactly the lesson of the first Pentecost - adding the breath of the Spirit and the followers of The Way into the traditional celebration?

The only difference? This year Pentecost co-incided with what the older generation would call the Whitsun Bank Holiday (and no, I've never called it that and I have nearly 4 decades under my belt!) so numbers were down. Fewer regulars and fewer young families. MLPK, like, I suspect, many other new developments, simply empties over major festivals and Bank Holidays. (Having said that, I just checked the register: I had expected the numbers be down, but looking at the records they weren't too bad, 15 over 16 and 8 below, the best for a month!)

Even so, the point remains: what's the point of celebrating the major festivals, which by now have become public holidays, if the majority of your (potential) congregation have fled? Maybe it's time to re-invent the calendar, ad do things when there is a better chance that people will actually be here?

Labels: Faith, Life

  ¶ 2:38 pm