Yesterday I worshipped at Kendal Road Baptist Church in Gloucester - which I initially attended whilst studying at Redcliffe College, but then remained at for a few years after whilst my children went though school. I then served the congregation as minister-in-training for my three years of ministerial formation before moving on in 2018 to my next pastorate as a newly-accredited-minister in Stevenage.
If you've been following my blog you'll know I began my sabbatical by visiting the church I grew up in. And though I was there for 33 years, and at KRBC for considerably less time, whenever I go back (and yesterday was no exception) it is like coming home. And it was extra special yesterday as there were a number of folk who were able to tell me in person how much they'd appreciated virtually "joining me" as I walked my pilgrimage. Another beautiful example of how I travelled alone, but together - friends and family and church family "with" me - which made that experience truly wonderful!
During worship we sang a song new to the fellowship and to me called "Sing wherever I go" and it starts with these words:
'All my life, all I know
God's been good, good to my soul
Mountain high, valley low
I'm gonna sing wherever I go."
And they, not surprisingly, felt rather apt! Especially as I'd found myself singing some of the time along the way whilst on pilgrimage!
It's a great song, so if you'd like to listen to all of it follow this link: https://youtu.be/1KjFBP-5R64?si=9RxhVvPmZHaA0wdW
The minister, Steve, then unpacked 1 Kings 19 about Elijah meeting God in the silence. I took a few notes and one quote from Steve was this: "We don't need something spectacular, we need to hear from God in the silence. We need to be familiar with His voice so that we recognise His voice when He speaks." Hearing from God in the silence is a theme that has come up repeatedly through this last week in my times of study and reading, so to hear this repeated again is worthy of note and will be something I'll be continuing to ponder on in the coming weeks.
We then moved into sharing communion together and Steve began by reading Matthew 11:28-29 from the Message - which reminded me of the place I now call home, as this is YBC's verse of the year for 2025:
