Did you go away this August? If you visit a church while you are on holiday, please tell us about it, especially if you attend a service.
Two churches we attended a service
· Staveley Parish Church, for Ann and Steve’s wedding
· Town Church, St Peter Port Guernsey; the vicar there said he had once lived in Stone
(Arthur and Trish)
I remember vividly the time I attended a service at a Baptist church in Chicago. I had to go to a trade exhibition at lunchtime so I went to the 8am service. I was surprised, when I entered the church, to see that all the other men present apart from one (another visitor) were wearing dinner jackets and bow ties. Fortunately I was wearing a suit to be ready for the exhibition and didn’t feel too under-dressed.
The minister appeared, in a black and red gown, and told us that he was supposed to be in Houston that day but the Holy Spirit had told him not to go and that he should preach instead in his own church. We sang a few songs and then he began preaching most impressively. All the men in the church, apart from the other visitor and I, got up and stood in a wide line in front of the pulpit facing the rest of the congregation, raising their arms and calling out “Alleluia” as he preached, pausing occasionally to mop his brow. Then a collection was taken; we filed past the minister and elders one at a time, shaking hands, and dropping banknotes into three buckets– the minister’s wages (he stood over that one personally), church funds and an appeal. The service came to an end because the 11am service had to begin and crowds were waiting outside to come in. (Dave Bell)