Preaching away from home

To Holy Trinity, Redhill, yesterday to preach at the morning and afternoon services. 

Holy Trinity, where I had my curacy between 2002-2005, is currently between Vicars, since Gary Jenkins moved to become Vicar of Bermondsey last year.





The Church Holy Trinity is an Anglican church in the evangelical tradition. 
From the website: 

We are an Anglican church which means we are part of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion.We are an Evangelical church which means that we take God’s Word, the Bible, as our supreme authority in all that we do and believe and that we place a top priority on proclaiming the Good News about Jesus.

Bible teaching and the making of disciples of all ages is at the heart of what HT is about - a midweek 'Rendezvous' service is aimed at the retired community, and a Holiday Club for the over 60's as well as one for children also takes place every year!

It is a genuinely friendly and welcoming church, too - our visit was a great opportunity to catch up with friends from our time there, and to be welcomed back. Not surprisingly, whenever we go back, the number of those we don't recognise increases each time - Holy Trinity is a growing church.



The services: There were 5 services across the whole day yesterday (and one on the Saturday afternoon!), and I was preaching at the 9.15am, 11.00am and 4.00pm. Each service is targeted at a particular audience, and has it's own 'flavour' as far as what is on offer. The 'Sunday@4' service is aimed at families whose children have been busy playing sport in the morning and it is followed by a children's tea of sandwiches, cake and drinks. During the delightful 'Family News' section of that service, one of the kids (put up to it by his father I'm sure) announced that his brother's football team had 'beaten the preacher's team this morning'...cue loads of laughter. Great fun. 
All 3 services are supported by children's work out in the hall.


The sermon The passage I was given to preach on was the Letter to Sardis in Revelation 3, as part of a series on Jesus' 7 letters to the churches in what is now Turkey. The risen Lord of the church delivers a disturbing message to a comfortable church in Sardis - 'I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God'. It is a warning to any church that busies itself with a packed program of activities, and yet misses out on the main point of loving God and making him known to others.

Thank you to the team who invited us and made us welcome on our visit (not least Luke, Alex, Jane and the Wardens) - and be assured of our prayers for Holy Trinity at this crucial time!