It's church Jim, but not as we know it.

To church today and two contrasting but in their own way radical communities. This morning we went into Grand Rapids to listen to Canon Bob at the St Mark’s church. It was a bit quiet when we got their. We later found out that every Sunday morning they feed 150 people. These are members of the local community who have fallen on hard times. It’s so much easier to get into trouble here as we heard, if you’re sick for over a year your insurance runs out and you start to haemorrhage money and before long you have to sell your house. It’s as though although, it’s easier to rise in this universe it’s also easier to fall. We asked Canon Bob about the position of the church, he was able to answer not just for the states but also England where he had worked for a while. He reckoned that in the US the church were the new kids on the block, as such people had no preconceptions about them, whereas in Britain lots of folk memories remain which mean that people are nervous about inviting us to join in.
Tonight we have just got back from Mars Hill which is… well… radical! It was very different.

For a start off the church met in an old shopping Mall... there were no lit signs like we've seen outside other churches, it looked incredibly unprespossesing and t 5.45 p.m. it was nearly deserted. By 6.05 p.m. I reckon there were probably over 500 in the vast auditorium. Entering the worship space it was very plain, with a cross in the centre and everyone gathered around it including the band, who sat with their backs to the congregation. Although there were hundreds of people there it felt very intimate. It was like anti personality cult. Music played in the background (“if I just lie here” I think it’s called by snow patol.) someone very low key came forward and said a very swift hello and then we sang a few hymns… hardly any hands raised it was incredibly restrained and most of the music were traditional hymns played in a contemporary way. After this low key start the preacher began moving about in the central space and sharing and challenging us to look at the things which block our faith. There were no led prayers, not even a Eucharistic blessing of the bread, but rather I think we were to respond in our own ways, though nobody told this. After the talk we were invited to receive bread and wine, but there was no one to administer it we simply came forward and took wafers from a bowl and dipped them in the wine.
Three more songs followed and a final blessing. There was no appeal, there was no formal response. The whole service was over after about an hour. People left without coffee, or much talking to each other, sent away to contemplate what God had said through the word and worship. It was incredibly different but also very real and moving. I go the impression that these were people who lived in the real world and their worship reflected this.
Two churches both in their way radical, engaging in their communities but living the Christian life.