Holidays, vacation times, are great. And one of the joys is seeking out churches at which to worship. Though I must confess that has been a disappointment more often than a joy.
Never more so then when, on a visit in Catholic Europe we finally traced the location of an English-speaking and Protestant church. Or at least the place where it was to meet. After a long walk we met this notice in the window.
The Priest in Charge of this church has resigned without warning or due notification. The Bishop of the Diocese has suspended the Parish without warning or due notification. For those reasons Anglican Church Services are no longer held in this church.
We were not the only ones on vacation! It was very vacated indeed.
I figured the following;
- Now I know why I don't believe a Priest is essential to a church, still less a Bishop. After all, whatever their issues they had conspired to deny us a group of believers with whom to share worship in our language. If a congregation had turned up, I'd have happily led the service!
- If you are going to put a notice in the window it either needs to say more than this - something positive perhaps? - or less. I thought this was probably the most woeful church notice I had ever read. And THAT is saying something!
Meanwhile, the world continued to pass by the busy street while the ecclesiastical wheels remained stuck in the ecclesiastical mud.
May God grant us some vacationing fellowship to celebrate.
