0905 An early start and going to church

I WOKE this morning -- Mothers Day -- at around 6 am, and spent some time watching the sun rise. It was beautiful to watch, and light from a long time before the scheduled appearance of the sun.

This meant that I was well awake in time for the 8 am service at the historic St Thomas' Anglican Church. I had just written Chris a note and was about to quietly go out the door when she awoke, so I was able to tell her what my plans were.

It was a longer walk than I had anticipated, so I arrived just as the bell was ringing to announce the commencement of the service, and I actually got to my seat as the first hymn was underway. I'd have been there a bit earlier except that a woman at the door greeted me with a hug -- it was rather like coming to our own church.

The photograph above, taken after the service, when the door was shut, doesn't do the friendliness of the people justice.

I suppose there were over 100 people present, and it was a fairly conventional Anglican service, which wasn't easy for a Baptist to follow. But then the congregation clearly had similar difficulties. They were unfamiliar with a couple of the hymns, and some were getting a trifle lost navigating around the Prayer Book -- well, its modern equivalent. Here I think our church does a lot better both with music and with keeping people well-informed about what is happening.

There were several readings, one of which was a selection of verses from Revelation. This was the main reading for the morning's sermon, and the reader was totally lost, hopping from section to section. But we got the gist in the end.

A further positive was that a number of people were responsible for different sections of the service, and this flowed well, with the minister having to do little other than preach.

There was no indication whether or not visitors were invited to share in communion, but that's pretty typical for Anglicans, and I take the position, "When in doubt, don't."

The greeting time was towards the end of the service, and picked up again as soon as the meeting was over. I think this is good. An elderly lady mentioned that she had come from North Western NSW before moving to Port Macquarie, and was surprised that I could mention places like Narrabri, Baan Baa, Maule's Creek... she was actually from Baan Baa, and she and her husband had owned the property across the Namoi River from my uncle and aunt, Lance and Gert Hollingworth. So it was nice to have that link. Another chap in the congregation was also from that area. We had a brief chat about the picture theory which, from memory, was at Baan Baa.

I couldn't stay to chat, as it was Mothers Day and I did want to get back to Chris before the day was too far gone.