A GOOD SERVICE ON THE RADIO AND AT CHURCH TODAY

We had a great service again - it is so good to be with like-minded people worshipping God - and it makes me wonder however we managed during the lockdowns when we were isolated in our own homes with very little human contact.

It was Communion this morning and you can see one of the banners, stitched so beautifully - again, as I look at these I wonder at the expertise of those who do this sort of thing.  Not really my thing, but I do like to admire other people’s work.  It’s interesting that at the next Craft Morning at our Church in a couple of weeks’ time, I have been asked to “oversee” the sewing!!  “Eeeeeek!” - which is what I said when I was asked, but I was told I didn’t need to do any - phew, that’s good and a relief to hear - but just to be there to make sure that all was well.  I do know how to sew but my sewing skills are not that good.  

I have also shown the Cross in front of a loaf of bread and the small communion glasses that we use - which may be alien to some people who are used to seeing a chalice in their own Church.  These have been used at Gorse Hill Baptist Church for as long as I can remember.  

Something else that I do remember from many, many years ago - when I was a little girl - was that when we were served with the bread - in those days it was cut up into tiny squares and we took one of them - today we break our own piece off the quarter loaf - as it is broken into four parts before those serving take it around and then we eat that straightaway.  However, when the wine is brought round and we take one of the little glasses, we hold on to that and then, when everyone has been served, we drink as “one body”.  

One other thing that I remember is that many years ago, when we had pews, instead of the chairs we now have, we had pews - and we were encouraged to sit in alternate rows - so that those serving could move along the rows easily.  However, we are too many to do that now, so we just remain in our seats and those serving work around that.  I remember the distinct sound of glass as they were put, when they were empty into a metal piece on the backs of the pews;  it doesn’t sound the same going into the special little holes in the wooden chairs!

The bottom right shot in my collage shows a latrine - or toilet - in Uganda, which has been “Twinned” by the money that the children from Kidzone (Sunday School to those of us who are much older!) put into Bob the Cow each week. There is also another one they have “Twinned” in the Ivory Coast - and it was interesting to read that “1 in 4 people around the world don’t have a loo.”  Before that they collected to supply goats and now they are collecting to send two children, complete with uniforms and books, to school in Costa Rica.  It is so good that our children are being reminded that there are many in other parts of the world who are much less fortunate than they are.

Our speaker this morning, Candy, was from Hong Kong - and she spoke from Psalm 139 - reminding us that God knows all about us and our families and cares for us enough to “hem us in”, as a mother would wrap her baby in a blanket to keep it secure and also to lay His hand upon us.  It was so good to be reminded of that.

Hope everyone has a good week - it is much colder today, so I've just made a huge panful of Butternut Squash soup which will keep warm - Mr. HCB says it has "quite a kick"!  Stay warm and safe.  M xx 

P.S.  The Service on Radio 4 this morning was excellent, and is worth listening to especially at the very end where I was moved to tears as a father and son spoke the words of the children's song "Jesus Loves Me, This I know."  

It was entitled “A Church for Everyone?  From the website: “Reflecting on the experiences in church of a significant proportion of the population - people who are on the autistic spectrum. With contributions from members of a 'Church For Everyone' - an online community of autistic Christians. The service explores the needs of this community, people who 'process information to create meaning’ in a different way than for most and who often experience senses significantly more or less intensely than others. Members of the group talk about their experiences of negotiating church and what they would like to see change in order to help them participate in worship, with words of reflection by Professor Grant Macaskill from the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Autism and Theology.