I was not preaching once again as we were at my niece's wedding in Cwmbran and Newport on Saturday. In the morning we went to Emmanuel, Cardiff, where Eleri's sister and family are involved. The pastor John Woolley was preaching. It was a special from the heart sermon on prayer that managed to be both very challenging and yet stirring too so that you actually wanted to pray more rather than feeling bad about your lack of prayer. The Ellises kindly treated us to lunch before we all trekked up to Cwmbran to be with my sister for tea in her garden (the biggest private garden in Croesyceiliog I believe). At Pontrhydyrun the preacher was their assistant Stephen Tucker who was just coming to the end of 1 Thessalonians. So two more experiences of congregational life to add to my earlier samples from my sabbatical period. Buildings vary greatly. Clearly, screens are in, at least for the songs and readings if not for the sermon points. An extra few accompanying instruments is no big deal. Preachers rarely wear ties. Open prayer in the evening is common enough but taking a collection any time (or even mentioning giving) rare.
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