Parting Mists

In July, I wrote of walking through the mountains in Wengen with Maggie Gerber and seeing a way forwards for the homegroups here at St Catherine's.

It's interesting that today I should receive the pack from ICS about my next chaplaincy in Wengen at New Year. For today our new series of homegroups began, springing from that walk with Maggie in July.

We now have three groups. Two are standard groups: a meal, a bible study, prayer; one is a lunchtime affair (the one that produces PodCaths), one an evening group. The third group has no meal, just coffee and cake, and starts a little later, and meets only fortnightly. And its focus, whilst including some Bible study, is slightly different: for it is a singing group.

Not a choir. We aren't going to robe or sit at the front of church every week. But we will sing, songs and hymns and anthems, and we will learn music together and the art of reading and performing and worshipping together. And from time to time we will sing a piece in church, or be able to take a lead, or lead worship in some way. Tonight was our first gathering.

And it was lovely.

Lovely.

Rich, rich harmonies in worship songs, and we learned SS Wesley's "Lead Me Lord" - an anthem we use as a worship song, but tonight we went back to the original version. It's simple and beautiful, and I think this group is going to be great - at singing, at worshipping, at opening the Scriptures - and, in time, at praying together and for each other. Wonderful people, amazing to see something new begin.