Probation search - part 1

So, off I went to worship this morning, visiting the first of the four possibilities for probation I was give on Tuesday. Admittedly, with the research I'd carried out so far, I wasn't sure if Bridge Kirk would make the cut, but along I went with an open mind.

As we drew up outside, we noticed a large group gathering outside - looks like there's a baptism. That, I know can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's interesting to see what, if any, modifications to the service takes place with the knowledge there's a large group of visitors. On the other hand, it is not as easy to get a feel for the minister - that being pretty important, for me, as I'll be working really closely with them.

Going in, there was a welcome team who did try to say 'hello' to all entering. No order of service or notices were distributed here, which was odd. I believe they give the welcome team something to give those entering, visitors can get a sense of what's going on in the church community and regular congregation members have a reminder of what's going on (and something to pray over, if they wish, at home). Without that, the danger is there are way too many noticed to be given at the start of the service, so people switch off and get bogged down in the detail. Guess what happened this morning? 10 minutes of notices. And this was with a lot of visitors (who received a round of applause - at the minister's instruction - for their presence)!

The act of worship itself began with the minister leading us in prayer, then telling us to stand to sing the first song (no, it's a hymn) unaccompanied. So, while I'm sure it was intended that telling us to stand was to lead those who are unfamiliar with a church service, there was a better way of putting it - stand, if you're able, being a good one. And an unaccompanied hymn. Well, as someone with a reasonable breadth of experience of worship, it was completely unfamiliar to me. Judging by the lack of singing from the majority of the congregation, it wasn't a well known (or liked) hymn at Bridge Kirk either. I did feel rather sorry for the (as it turned out) baby blessing visitors.

The whole service was conducted, including the church notices, but the minister, bar the bible reading. And boy, does he like the sound of his own voice! Though I found there were often too many people involved in worship at Caledonia Kirk, this seemed like entering into the other extreme. So much for the priesthood of all believers.

Though the minister didn't use many notes, he did have some. Mainly, those were used during the blessing of the baby. These were in a A4 folder and were getting in the way. And, as he read the words out, he spoke to the folder, rather than the child and had as much feeling and care in his tone as if he was reading off a shopping line. Really, if you care, you will sound like you care, and address the person you are blessing, that makes it look like you care too.

Once the children left for Young Church, the sermon was delivered. Again, I felt this was not appropriate for the context of a lot of visitors there for the blessing, especially as the minister had announced at the beginning that children were welcome to stay (or come and go) for the whole service. The sermon was about sending campaigning postcards from Christian Aid to the Prime Minister, David Cameron and the lack of generation X and Y in the church.

The tone of the whole sermon was very negative. The 4 generations (builder, baby boomer, gen X and gen Y) were explained, with the lowest generation being gen Y - c18-30 (according to his stats). All of this was to highlight how 'normal' (whatever that is) church doesn't work for everyone (it never did). So, what about under 18s, don't they count in the life of the church? And you've just told me how gen Ys want to work and speak out against injustice and will take part in activities which help their communities, yet didn't place a positive spin on how they can be 'used' (sorry, bad word, but can't think of better) by the church for the community as a whole. Grr. Not really a message that a group of visitors, who may have limited or no experience of church want to hear. If anything, congratulations, you have confirmed their stereo-type of the church for them!

But this seems so negative, what about positives? A lady did come across and specifically invited us for a cuppa. That was a nice, friendly touch. Sometimes visitors feel that's a bit intimidating, even though they have been invited at some point during the service.

As we went to get our tea, Spot noticed a former colleague of ours and said 'hello.' It was with them we had a chat. His wife admitted she struggles with women in ministry, but I respected her honesty. The conversation was interesting, especially when a comment was made that the dishwasher in church had never worked since it was installed. I know that's not the minister's responsibility, but I do think it says a lot about the leadership of a church and stewardship of its resources, when issues like that are not dealt with.

So, will I be back? Unlikely. It did make the probation choice straightforward, in this case. I must admit, I had images of struggling to whittle the 4 down.