Mursley

This is the first Sunday in my sabbatical when we haven't had something planned, so we decided to do church. I did a quick scan of "Church near you" to find a service in one of the villages outside Milton Keynes. Only one of the churches I looked at had included full details of the services at a time we could make, so we headed off to Mursley.

I knew the previous rector and curate fairly well but have yet to meet the new guy. He now has five villages to contend with, so was off somewhere else doing communion (I guess).

The family service was small but friendly, with a great feeling of community. We could tell that people knew each other pretty well but were also willing to pounce on us as visitors - "Who are you visiting?". The service was led by one of the church wardens and her husband who between them delivered an engaging piece of all age worship with a sermon which was clearly part of a series on the creed. Music was provided by two younger people with guitar and violin.

Obviously in a small community like this you are not going to get a seven piece rock band and a nationally recognized preacher, etc, etc... This was a small local congregation not a mega church - but it was good to see the church doing what it does best - building deep, committed local Christian community. More churches like this, please!

The church warden's husband was pleased to hear that I'd found them through "A Church Near You" since he'd only got the password two weeks ago...