False Walls

We went to Bourn today to go to church with some of our friends. It was an all age service - Patterns for Worship with sermon and children's activities. The pianist was brilliant - and delivered the sermon - his third. The girls gave this service a high score, largely, I suspect, because they had friends with them. This was a good service, but the girls' reaction confirms my suspicion that it's people and relationships that ultimately make a piece of worship work...
Which brings me to Wimpole Hall, where we had a picnic in the afternoon. There's a wonderful folly on the hill, which we really wanted to visit. After various attempts we succeeded. The great thing about it is that behind the stone façade, it's made out of bog-standard red bricks - all neatly hidden away. On one level, I was disappointed by this blatant bit of cheating, but I also enjoyed the brazen trickery of it!
Worship is a bit like the Wimpole folly, it can be made to look perfect, with all the right bits put in place, but the real measure of worship is found behind the scenes in the structure that holds it all together - the Church. The quality of the community is crucial, which is why I believe in the local church as a force for good. It doesn't need money, or massive resources to change the world. All it needs is people who love...