What can I say? I'm just back from church - church, Jim, but not as we know it. Williamsburg Community Chapel, aiming to meet people where they are on their journey. For a start, we attended the second of three services - and as we sat in for the beginning of the third service, I know that at least two of them were packed. And for seconds, there were about twice as many people in the choir as we ever see in church at the one time, and a praise band, and a pianist, and tapes (full orchestra), and a PA system worthy of a concert hall ......
And as you can see from my snatched phone-pic, there were shoals of young people - the large young man in front of me was a rugby player, from his jersey. And apparently there was another hall upstairs full of crowds of really young, all rocking away to a band in their own service. The band we heard had both our friends playing in it - they're great.
The sermon was long enough to cover the sermon slot in Holy T and go on through the entire celebration of the Eucharist. And then the service ended. Maybe I've been away from the Kirk for too long, but my brain can't cope any more with 30 minute sermons - maybe it never could. And I missed the sacrament of communion - I couldn't be doing with nothing but praise and teaching.
But it'd be good to know the secret of the pulling power of a church like this.
