I’m not sure how coherent this might be, as I’m still thinking about a variety of things from Sunday morning’s church service. It being a Sunday off for me, I thought I would worship elsewhere in the city. My comments fall into two areas, and in some way are reflections of things I wonder about from time to time. So when I get there I will be thinking about holiday worship from the point of view of what a minister should do when they were on holiday and then holiday worship as a holiday from what you/I usually do.

For the most part worship was enjoyable, the sermon didn’t ask much of me. If you like a good sing the hymns were good. There were some interesting additions to the service with someone telling us what they would be doing the next day, and how their faith would be part of that. Worship wasn’t led by the minister as they were on holiday, and the congregation may have been lacking in a family element because of the half term holiday.

I really do suspect I give off an air of don’t talk to me, as yet again I managed to attend worship without anyone acknowledging my presence. I even sat in amongst people and still they talked to each other. It is however fantastic to go to worship occasionally and no one to ask anything of you. My overwhelming introvert gets let out, rather than the mastered professional extrovert I have to play at other times.

So…

1. What should a minister do when they are on holiday?

My personal philosophy has always been that even when I have chosen to stay in the manse, that I have gone elsewhere for worship. In my previous charge this often mean that I headed off to my home congregation to sit with my parents and listen to the minister who has been an important part of my growing and formation into ministry. Doing that also offered an opportunity to be in a space I felt comfortable, and in a place where I was able to enjoy just being a child of a congregation – which is a very special thing to be.

On occasion I have gone to listen to a friend or colleague who has been inspiring in our relationship, and been thrilled to leave inspired by what they offer of God in their worship.

Holidays have also offered the opportunity to explore different traditions and cultures. I have loved French village worship, where the worshippers often wander in from the market part way through the service so that they might receive the sacrament, and then disappear. I’ve revisited my Baptist past, and revived my inner Anglican.

Moving home has meant I’ve had to think about what I might do here, so on this occasion I thought I would visit a local church, knowing that their tradition might challenge the things that matter to me in worship. It is important to be occasionally uncomfortable as it allows you to view the things that really matter to you. It asks you to be a worshipper and allow yourself to be guided towards God.

But is there a place for not holidaying away from your congregation, but instead being there with them? Should you use the opportunity to wander around in relaxed clothes, and build on the relationships and friendships that pull a congregation together?

There is probably a place for both, but I think worth reflecting on.

2. When worship makes you wonder about a tradition.

There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the worship I experienced. It was skilfully presented, and the sermon was thoughtful and at times insightful/inciteful.

In worship these days I tend to not pick holes in order, prayer or content, because I go to worship not to criticise. However hymns tend to send me thinking.

I wonder if our hymns give more away about the theology of a congregation or a minister than we would care to acknowledge. This week I found myself stuck in Good Friday, and almost revelling in the suffering of Christ upon the cross.

It took me back to a conversation I had with a Salvationist when I was in my first charge. We struggled to find a meeting point in what we knew of God at times in our conversations. For him the defining moment of Christ’s life was his death on the cross, while mine is the Resurrection.

In worship we have to take a congregation through one to the other. I would hope that what we sing reflects the pain in acknowledging that Christ is part of the death of our old ways, but it also draws us on to recognise Christ dancing in the possibilities of today and tomorrow.

Who would have thought that holiday worship would offer so much to think about?!