The building was converted from a commercial building to a church building and the service was the kind one might find on American television.
Like Grandview, when the service started the seats were a bit empty . . . but they filled up quickly. The worship leaders began by energetically calling people to get involved. There was a good bit of telling the congregation what kinds of things we ought to be doing ("Touch your neighbor's shoulder and say 'God can do anything.'"). The singing was great. The whole congregation raised their voices, not relying on the great choirs to supply the music.There was a heavy emphasis on God's ability to deliver and to make good on promises made--so heavy that it sometimes slipped into the grey area between gospel confidence and the prosperity gospel.
And, in a nice international twist, there was a Swedish Gospel Choir in town. They sang (in English) with the same kind of verve and excitement as the Glory House choir.
I made a friend. His name is Isaac. He sat on my lap and seemed to enjoy playing with my camera.
We had to leave before the service was over. The preliminary preacher kept saying he wasn't going to talk for long and that he only had a few minutes to speak before the main preacher. After 35 minutes of telling us that he didn't have much time, we had to leave for the next worship service.Our next stop was St. Paul's Shadwell. This church is an old London congregation famous as the church home of sailors. It is also where Thomas Jefferson's mother was christened. Despite having THAT going for it, it had fallen on hard times in typical London fashion. The Shadwell area appears to be rebounding, but it is still not one of the nicer areas of London.
New life came to this church, though, when Holy Trinity Brompton (the biggest, most happenin' Anglican church in London--more on that in a second) asked 50 families to relocate from the upscale Westside of London to Shadwell and begin the work afresh at St. Paul's. This was done, by the way, with the blessing of the London Bishop.
It's a beautiful old building. Below is a view of the steeple from the Thames, but the real beauty was inside. . .
. . . where a vital congregation worshipped. The service was very similar to Grandview's 9:30am service, only there isn't a college close by. Though only a few years old, the congregation runs two services (the early one is more formal to meet the desires of the surviving members from before the replant).We were impressed by the life of a church that has been able to reach people who were not Christians before becoming a part of St. Paul's. These are not people who became Christians at a camp meeting when they were 12 years old.
They even do the "hug and howdy" that drives so many people crazy at Grandview!
After the service at St. Paul's we went to lunch at Spitalfields Market (not the most appetizing name, eh?). It was packed full of people browsing for various ethnic foods (including American style barbecue ribs) and goods.
Then we were off to Holy Trinity Brompton, the birthplace of the Alpha Course (more on that in the next blog). Holy Trinity Brompton is in the heart of the Kensington area, just a few blocks from the world-famous store, Harrod's at Knightsbridge. It is a neighbor to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. And here, in the heart of upscale London, is a an Anglican church that is going gang-busters.
This church was led for almost 30 years by a man named Sandy Millar, whom we met the following day. Millar is now a Bishop-at-large and the rector of the poorest parish in London. He was heavily impacted by the Vineyard movement in the late-70s. His 20-year assistant, Nicky Gumbel, is the senior minister now.The church is amazing. The Sunday evening service runs about 600 and the average age looked to be about 24. They have Sunday morning services that skew a bit older and a bit more mellow in worship style. The Sunday evening worship style was, again, similar to Grandview's 9:30am service (the most noticeable differences were less emphasis on Eucharist and a time for people to come forward and be prayed for at the end of the service).
Casual conversations with attendees reveals that there are many people here who didn't grow up in the faith. Many became Christians through the Alpha course. The Alpha course appears to be the best tool of evangelism at the disposal of the church in England. I saw non-conformist churches as well as Anglican churches with banners advertising the program.
What is the Alpha course? Glad you asked. I had to ask as well. It is a 13 week short-course on Christianity. It has, as part of it, a weekend retreat and a weekly meal. The Alpha course at Holy Trinity will be the focus of the next blog. I've got some papers to do and I'm running behind!
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