Trinity

For Trinity Sunday, I decided to choose the wisdom option: get other preachers in. That way, the inevitable heresies that fly out of pulpits across the land on this day of all days would, at least, not come from my mouth, and I would just get to look intelligent and thoughtfully concerned should any of my flock notice a stray extra-biblical doctrine float its way towards them. I'll include photos of all three preachers who were at St Catherine's yesterday.

Speaking of which, I had two wonderful friends to hand. Last year Gill Tuck, our pastoral visitor, who I have heard too many times proclaim that preaching isn't really her thing, gave the best Trinity sermon I have ever heard - but it was at our evening service, so most of our folk didn't hear it. This year, both morning congregations got the full benefit. Using all sorts of images and pictures which by themselves are insufficient, she piled layer upon layer of trinitarian illustrations on top of each other, till she found all of them helpful and none enough - the Trinity is best known, best experienced, best found in love. And her conclusion was lovely.

In the evening we had the wonderful Aled Edwards, OBE, Man Utd fan, chairman of Cytun, North Walian and evidently shark hunter.

He took us on a journey through John 16, perhaps the two most poignant moments of which for me were his story of going on his son's stag weekend (and that's where the shark comes from) - and yes, that was poignant: I'm not sure how many Dads go on their son's stag weekends. The love between father and son that would make this work is quite something. And then he gave us a comment from an African friend - "you have watches, we have time." Just as I had been thinking about the length of the service.

I fear that people want to go home and do something else, and I often am guilty of not letting us spend enough time with the Spirit at the end of a service because I am somehow programmed into not overrunning a time limit I have invented.

And the Lord gently reminded me that he will take time with us - and that when it is him taking time (as opposed, I suppose, to me just wasting time) no-one minds. Certainly, last week we overran at everything and there were no complaints, as everyone waited to be filled with the Spirit.

So after Aled had spoked, we took time to wait on God, to worship, to pray, to bask in his presence, to allow him to work in us. It seemed to pass in an instant. The service started at six, so I was totally shocked when I looked at my watch and saw it was twenty to eight!

By the way, Aled has a great blog; have a read through it - it's lots of fun!

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Oh, sorry - you were expecting a third picture? The third preacher was me (substitute, unused). Look again at the photos above and you can see me! No, not in a shark costume - that's my hands holding Gill's birthday cake a couple of weeks ago. It's chocolate: do you think I'm letting go?