Pilgrim Soldier

What is it that gives me my sense of belonging to a church or corps? What makes me feel as if I belong to it?

Is it the sense of belonging to a community of people who love each other? Is it a commitment to the mission of the corps/church? Is it the style of the worship that makes me feel at home?

Or do I simply go because that is where I’ve always gone? Or rather where I’ve been sent!

Why do I belong? Why even ask? Why?

Isn’t it enough just to belong? Isn’t it? Do I?

Lots of questions but no answers! I don’t know, but there must be a reason; there must be a purpose!

He is risen!

One of the things I love most about being here in Godalming is the way the various denominations work together. This weekend we have come together for a Good Friday walk of witness and for a sunrise service this morning. Both of these have been excellently attended with between 120-150 people at each of them. It seems though every time that the churches join together in this way people turn out in good numbers to spend time with each other. I also always see people from various denominations chatting and laughing together!

For both of these events the weather stayed perfect! About 5 minutes after we got home on Friday the weather turned from bright and sunny to a torrential hailstorm, and then this morning within about 20 minutes of getting home it started to snow! God certainly seemed to keep the weather at bay so that these celebrations could go ahead!

This morning I had the privilege of being asked to share an Easter morning reflection. The post just below this one is the text of my thought. One of the joys of this role as an Envoy in The Salvation Army is get an opportunity to do this sort of thing and it is a great honour!

Well this is a bit of rambling post! If anyone bothers to read it, then I pray that you have had a really good Easter Day with plenty of chance to reflect on the wonderful events that happened 2000 years ago, yet still have a great significance for this dark world today!

… is what I was thinking as I headed out of the house at just before 7:30 this morning. You see Abigail is sick and spent most of the night in with Zoe and I taking up a ridiculous amount of bed for a 9 month old baby! She’s wheezing and coughing and crying and is generally feeling lousy, which isn’t very easy for her to understand. After maybe a maximum of 4 hours sleep, split into several segments, the alarm went off and I dragged my uniform on in a semi-comatose state.

As I walked down the hill from the area we live to our hall in the town centre, I was fortunate enough to see a gloriously red sky with the clouds being painted by the not long risen sun. The beauty of it started to burn away the fog that had collected in my head.

The reason I was up and out to the hall so early this morning was actually because today we hosted an Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast. Whilst the numbers there were relatively few, just 13 of us, we could count several different denominations, plus a Sister from the local convent. After spending fellowship together, I can honestly say that it was a real privilege to lead this group as we dedicated the rest of the time to praying into situations here in the town.

It was only as I was waiting for a family to arrive for a later meeting that I realised that all the tiredness I had felt as I started off down the hill this morning had fled. Time in the presence of God refreshes us in ways that we can’t begin to understand!

The wonder of being in charge of a Salvation Army corps is that your role is extremely varied. One of these variations happened yesterday as I was writing an e-mail to the Baptist minister here in Godalming. He is in charge of putting together the United Service that is held annually on the last Sunday of the year. This year I have been asked to lead the confessional prayer before communion, which personally I feel very honoured to be doing. I actually wrote about corporate confession early on in my blogging experience and highlighted how it can be very useful thing.

Having said that I’m aware of how easy it is for anything that is done week in, week out to become something that becomes simply a habit rather than being done out of any real conviction. With this in mind I started to hunt down form of liturgical confession that was different to the norm and after a fair bit of searching I found one over at Jonny Baker’s blog amongst his 3rd set of worship tricks. Called the Grace confession it actually makes uncomfortable reading and speaks to both the corporate entity of the church as well as at an individual level. So after a very small amount of adaptation I’ve sent it off to be included in the Order of Service.

Whilst I am not one of the voices that is calling out for the sacraments to be brought into the Army’s repertoire of worship experience, I do think that there are some elements of liturgical worship that could be adapted into the Salvation Army experience. Some sort of occasional experience of corporate repentance could be a valuable experience in any corps that struggles to see any use of the mercy seat at all, which of course has been a traditional place of individual repentance.

By the way the actual text of the Confessional Prayer is this:

When our thoughtless criticism stifles the creativity of others,
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy

When we keep a tight hold on power and deny others the chance to participate.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

When we prefer the safety of our holy huddle to the wideness of God’s world.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

When we decline to take risks for fear that we might fail.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

When we praise the gifts of others,
share the power that we are given,
engage with communities beyond the boundaries of our comfort,
and risk everything we have for the sake of others, then,
God rejoices in us.
God rejoice in us.

Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent,
Have mercy upon us,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness,
keep us in life eternal,
and may your Holy Spirit encourage us to a new way of living,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.