Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common… with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Godalming Minster: an exciting time, now

We’ve arrived! We are Godalming Minster and we are part of the future. What an exciting time to be living in the Godalming area. Even for someone not connected to Christianity, this about living in a time of the possibility of Godalming being known as ‘The Minster Town of Godalming’ and the good that this could bring to the town.

The Minster: “Is it a building, is it a place? no it’s a people and language”

I was recently talking to some people about The Minster. The conversation led me to share an image which I have used several times recently about who and what we’ve become, and it is exciting to share it with you because it is about being united in faith and far from monochrome in how we serve and worship.

The cinema

Imagine going to the cinema. The cinema doesn’t play multiple films in the same space because that wouldn’t work and not everyone likes the same thing. Instead, as you enter you have a choice of start time, style and genre. One film might be loud and exciting, but your friend’s film might create a reflective space. You might go in the morning, but another film might be on in the evening.

This is a great image for serving across Godalming Minster. The Minster offers different ways to serve the people of the area. There may be activities which are loud and exciting, and others which create a reflective space for healing and pondering. One activity might be geared for children, another for the recently bereaved who are asking questions of life, faith and purpose.

It is also a great image for worship across Godalming Minster. The worship in a place is not confined to being for a particular group or location. It belongs to everyone and everything of the Minster because everyone is invited. One person may prefer something choral with robes, another person may seek something loud and contemporary with the leader in jeans; one person may only have mid-afternoon free on a weekday while another person may have been brought up to see Sunday morning as special. The style, location, time, ambience and genre is available for all that which is right for that moment. You’re invited to try all the styles and see which helps you worship. They’re all equally valid and important.

Godalming Minster is about recognising that we live in a small town and the joy that the Minster brings to this is that the whole town can now be the Minster Town of Godalming. We’re bringing people together across locations, life-backgrounds, finances, past-times, ages, political views and so much more.

The bowling alley

I relate this unity to an event of was at about twenty years ago. I had the unique experience of being required to take my passport to a Christian conference! There was to be a surprise speaker whose identity was kept under wraps for security reasons. This speaker, who was well known in politics, made a comment that has stayed with me.

They told the story of being in a ten pin bowling alley. Towards one end was a particularly large group which struck the speaker as so different that they approached one of the party. What attracted the speaker was the uniqueness of the group. All other groups in the bowling alley were a small family group, or teens of a similar age and dress code, or professional bowlers in full kit. This group were different. They were a large group, they laughed without dominating the place, they were ages from toddlers to the elderly, people who were clearly not related were helping one another to bowl, and there was an atmosphere around the group that stood out as different. I guess we’d call it love.

The speaker told the conference ‘they were the local church. They were different to anyone else in that bowling alley. They were bowling because one of the older people had missed it since her husband had died.’ That group made a significant impact on the speaker.

Godalming Minster is about being the people of the bowling alley. All ages, all backgrounds, different and offering something different in Christ that people may not recognise, but they sense the difference and want to come over and find out more.

Recognisable

Whether the cinema or the bowling alley makes more sense to you, what they have in common is:

·       they express worship, mission and style differently,

·       accept that people travel to them based on what is offered,

·       whilst being clear about their purpose and identity.

You know a bowling alley when you enter one. You know what a cinema is when you see it. They have a clear purpose, and so do we. We’re a Minster that is united in faith in Christ as our Saviour, Scripture as God’s Word, the work of the Holy Spirit to change us as we seek to follow Jesus, love people and see faith in Christ renewed because a we long for everyone to discover what we know to be true.

Welcome to the future as Godalming Minster. It is a language, and we are its people who are being changed by God into following, loving and renewing faith. It is the language and people of Acts 2:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common… with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

We’re following Jesus, loving people and renewing faith. Following Jesus is our personal response. Loving people is how and why we share our faith. Renewing faith is about growing younger with a new generation of renewed faith taking their place as Godalming Minster.

As we enter 2024, following Jesus into the World of Godalming Minster, try a different service, step into God’s mission and offer to support worship and activity on a Sunday. We are Godalming Minster. That’s why I am excited.