This week our service took the form of Songs of Praise led by Mr Robert Williams who was welcomed by Sue Fox. He began with Psalm 150: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Robert used a prayer devised by our President of Conference reflecting on the recent disturbances throughout our country and we repeated the Lord’s Prayer.
Then followed twelve hymns chosen beforehand by members of the congregation and accompanied on organ, piano and ukulele by Neil & Jill Barnett and Jonathan Baddeley. A mixture of the very familiar and less well known they all had a particular meaning for the choosers who introduced them. Their reasons were as varied as the hymns themselves: favourites from childhood, reminders of relatives, friends or occasions, in all cases the significance of the words and often the way the tunes emphasised them. We even had a Christmas carol and in one case grandchildren showed us the actions to the song.
Robert’s thought for the day focused on a pipe organ. Each pipe has to be in tune and has a vital role to play. Just like an organ, we all work together to produce a great sound. Everyone in the body of the church has a role to play and is equally important. We are all tuning our hearts to God’s grace. He prayed that we would all continue thus for our own well being and for our desperate world.
After we had shared the Grace we sang a last minute choice: Go forth and tell the glory of the Lord.