Finally A Church to Call Home?:

Last night I went to St. Ebbe's Church, another stop in my attempt to find a church home here in Oxford. I have been to several churches, even to the first Methodist church (founded by Wesley!), but haven't felt comfortable anywhere. Finally, at St. Ebbe's, I feel like I may have found my home. There are loads of students and families, all of whom are passionate about their relationship with Christ. They have several services and a great outreach attitude. The thing I liked the most though, was the progressive feel of the worship service. It was very organic: following not a set liturgy so much as having the music and prayers emerge from the message of the scripture for the evening. There are times when church feels to me as if the speaker figures out what he wants to say first, and then finds the scripture to support it. There is nothing wrong with this, but at St. Ebbe's the scripture is picked first and the message emerges from it's meaning. This makes so much sense to me and fills a void I think I have in my own spirituality, that is, a lack of knowledge about the scripture. The sermon followed closely the passage in Luke we had read, and the pastor spoke about our devotion to Christ as a result of that. I won't go into all the details, but the general gist talked about the polarities in Christians and our inability to just make a decision and commitment in our faith. This was very poignant for me. It felt as if the pastor wasn't lecturing me, but that we were in a conversation. I felt rejuvenated.

The music was contemporary, which isn't necessarily my favorite, but well performed. And there was no pressure to give money. St. Ebbe's has a mission to reach it's parishioners in faith first. The money is secondary. You give after the service if you want to, not during. This seems revolutionary to me. Though there is not a focus on tithing here anyway. It is as one friend told me: "too much of the Old Testament." I don't know about that, seeing as tithing ensures a church can serve it's congregation with the lights on, but I do like that there is no pressure. So I will go back next week, and hope that this is where God wants me to be. Oh, and the church opened in 1216...how cool is that?!

In other news...it's cold!!!! I'm frozen! The high today is 47 and that's at 10 o'clock tonight! Summer? Not yet, at least not in Britain. ;)

Wishing Warmth and God's Love for all,
Elizabeth