A couple of girl friends took me to Mar Hall for afternoon tea at the weekend. It was lovely. This old country house was last used as a kind of annexe for Erskine Hospital - a facility for disabled ex servicemen and women. I worked for a time at the parish church there and conducted services in the hall. I was intrigued to see how it had been refurbished, given that it was very beautiful then. I'm pleased to say that the great hall and reception rooms with their lovely ceilings and wood panelling and fire places haven't changed greatly although the smell of incontinence is now absent! But it felt so decadent to nibble tiny smoked salmon sandwiches and all manner of pastries in a place in which I had formerly conducted worship. And then it got me wondering - couldn't we do much more of that with our beautiful church buildings - maybe not the multi-million pound makeovers but the inviting folk in, spoiling them a little, allowing them to relax and enjoy the surroundings, a real ministry of welcome and hospitality. There are times when we should encourage decadence!
Every church should have a lounge with comfy sofas and good coffee on tap.
ReplyDeleteLet's petition the GA, Liz.
FBL
OK. If we act quickly we might just squeeze it onto this year's agenda. I'm sure that would be a barrier act decision - so maybe in about 3 years we'd have approval?!
ReplyDeleteHopefully we should get a coffee area etc in our new shopfront at the "Open Door".Church without walls becoming Church without walls (plus coffee shop).FANTASTIC!I can just taste it now and the blueberry muffins:)
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