We had time in the morning before our afternoon winery tour, so we checked out the phone book to see what churches were in the area. There were some Anglican, a Free Methodist, and some United Church of Canada that caught our attention.
We ended up attending Lundy's Lane United Church because they had a 10:30 am service that worked out perfect for us and they weren't too far away from our hotel.
We hailed a cab outside our hotel and took off. Our driver was from Syrbia and wasn't too talkative, though he seemed to enjoy living in Canada.
We arrived fairly early to the church and were greeted outside by a group of men chatting and visiting. I later learned that one of those men was the pastor. They greeted us warmly and showed us inside for some coffee and introduced us to a group of folks having coffee. Among that group, we met Rachel from Kenya. We had a good time chatting and getting to know folks before the service.
When we walked into the sanctuary, I noticed the area in the back where they had taken out a pew or two and made a place for kids to play, color, etc. I was tempted to sit back there.
We made our way up the middle aisle toward the front and sat on the left. I could see the tall, slender stained glass window fairly well from there.
I didn't count, so I don't know how many were in attendance. I enjoyed checking out the hymnal, Voices United, because it had some songs and prayers in French-- my 3rd language. We could use the hymnal or sing from the screen.
The service was an interview between the pastor (Rev. Dr. Bob Rennie) and a woman (Rosemarie Jaworsky) who had sponsored a young man from New York City over the summer.
It was a special time of sharing about outreach and how giving transforms the giver as much as it helps out the one receiving. Rosemarie shared that she had found a book of prayers written by teenagers from the USA that she used during the time that the young man stayed with them: Dreams Alive-- Prayers by Teenagers. She shared a couple of the prayers with us. They were beautifully written.
It was a blessing to hear Rosemarie's story and to worship with them this first Sunday of September. The organist/pianist (Nicole Foster) played two songs at the end that reminded me of my Academy time: "Will You Come & Follow Me" and "Sent Out in Jesus' Name". The first one had a hymn number for their hymnbook (#567), but I don't recall seeing it in the United Methodist hymnal. In the Upper Room Worship Book it is entitled "The Summons" (#60). It is by John L. Bell and is a traditional Scottish tune. The words and arrangement were done in 1987 in the Iona Community, Scotland.
This is one of those songs that pulls and tugs at me and pushes me when I hear it at the Academy. It's a call and response song in that God is calling in the first four stanzas and we have the opportunity to respond in stanza five.
Click here for a YouTube video of the song with someone playing it on guitar.
Lyrics for "The Summons"
1. Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?
2. Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer pray’r
In you and you in me?
3. Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the pris’ners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in me?
4. Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me?
5. Lord, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
And never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In you and you in me.
The second song that reminded me of my Academy time was "Sent Out in Jesus' Name/Enviado Soy de Dios". This one is published in The Faith We Sing (#2184). We sing it both in Spanish and English at the Academy.
I found a group of young kids singing the Spanish version on YouTube. You can listen to them by clicking here.
Lyrics in Spanish:
Enviado soy de Dios,
mi mano lista está
para construir con El
un mundo fraternal.
Los ángeles no son enviados a cambiar
im mundo de dolor por un mundo de paz.
Me ha tocado a mí hacerlo realidad;
ayúdame, Señor, a hacer tu voluntad.
Lyrics in English:
Sent out in Jesus' name,
our hands are ready now
to make the earth the place
in which the kingdom comes.
The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain
into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is our to do, to set it really free.
O help us to obey, and carry out your will.
It was a blessing to feel at home in several ways at this church, with this body of believers. To top off the morning, a sweet church member offered us a ride back to our hotel. That was such a gracious act of hospitality.
Thank you Lundy's Lane for opening your arms, doors, and hearts to two strangers from Tennessee. We were blessed to worship with you. My only regret is that we didn't have the chance to share Holy Communion with you on this day. I guess you serve it a different day.
If you would like to know more about this church, you can check out their website: Lundy's Lane United Church.
You can also watch the Sunday morning service from September 2. I had no idea that they posted on Youtube until I went to their website.
Blessings on your journey!
~Debra
I would love to travel to England to worship in a Methodist church there. Kind of like visiting the source code of our faith.
ReplyDeleteTony, that would be a very awesome experience as well! Since we use the United Church of Canada affirmation of faith from our hymnal from time to time in church, it was neat to be part of their family for a morning. I have enjoyed worshiping with family in Costa Rica and other places as well, some in the same denomination and others not.
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