New kinds of church – with knitting

I could write about a lot of things this month. I could write about vulnerability. I could write about feeling deeply, deeply saved by Christ and at the same time feeling like this religion racket is a load of rubbish that doesn’t make me feel all that better. But it’s too raw and too confusing and of no use to you or me this month. What I can say is that I have tried out a few different churches and made a few discoveries.

I was visiting my in-laws and decided to attend one of the churches in their town. The church had a fun Alpha banner outside and it had a Sunday evening service, so I made a few incorrect assumptions about it. I assumed that their six o’clock service would be funkier than I might expect from the morning family service. I expected to see some students there, and I assumed there would be a band. In point of fact it was not a service but a Bible study of sorts, open to all, on the book of Job – cheerful. Among the people picking up a hot drink and a biscuit I saw two men who looked younger than me, so we three were most definitely the youngest in the room by a large margin. This was not going to be the Sunday night I had envisioned.

I told myself I was being un-Christian and judgemental while simultaneously trying to work out the quickest way to sneak out without causing too much offence, or embarrassment to myself. No luck there, the vicar caught me at the door out and then introduced me to various people, found me a seat at a table and got someone to get me a cup of tea. He was absolutely brilliant! There I was, a total stranger, having a big fuss made out of me…

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This is an extract from the April 2017 edition of Reform