Church Visit

This morning we visited Peace Lutheran Church in Abbotsford. Peace Lutheran is a small congregation (there were about 60 people and only six children, including our two), just over 50 years old, with a German background. Their sanctuary is beautiful. It was the first thing we noticed, with its natural light, its wooden themes, and its rich symbolism (pulpit, table, font, cross). The second thing we noticed was how friendly the people were.

The Lutherans tends to be more liturgical than the Reformed, and Bethel Church is less liturgical than the typical Reformed church. As such, we found ourselves feeling very much as fish-out-of-water. They hymns and readings and whole flow of  the service was unfamiliar. It was all laid out nicely in the bulletin, but I found it still rather hard to follow.

This is a good lesson I learned for transfer to Bethel Church. When people walk thorough the doors for the first time, they can often feel very uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the way we do things. We can't underestimate the need to be helpful to visitors and go out of our way to help them feel at ease. Things like the location of the nursery and how Sunday School works and where they can sit and which books to use and when (powerpoint projections really help with this latter part). I think we do a good job of explaining to visitors what we are doing during the service, so they feel they can fully partake and know what's going on. But we could probably do better in those first few steps in the door--helping people feel comfortable and at ease.

On a completely different note, it was quite cute this morning when we celebrated the Lord's Supper. At Peace Lutheran, they use real wine instead of grape juice like we do. It was funny watching Hannah and Rebekah as they sipped that little cup of wine. They were both grossed-out, and their faces showed it. Too bad I didn't have a camera!

Blessings, David