Date: Sunday 23rd July
Location: Watford & Lower Earley
Special Occasion: Outdoor ‘Bandstand’ Service in Watford’s Cassiobury Park
Speakers
II spoke in Watford. Johnson spoke in Lower Earley. I really enjoyed listening to him speak, and his wife Cicily sharing. It was good to hear about how God has moved in India.
I loved doing the outdoor service in Watford. The preteens got involved in my sermon in a similar way to the outdoor service at Wellington country park. It helped their attention and provided a compelling illustration for the adults present. An improvement on my lesson in Wellington was the addition of concluding illustration about a missing lottery ticket. I was struck by how much a powerful illustration at the end of the lesson made a difference to people’s reception of the point. Might be good to do something similar more often.
Video of Johnson’s lesson is here. Audio available at the Thames Valley churches of Christ iTunes podcast. My audio is findable on the Watford church podcast.
Note to self: put effort into illustrations. Don’t view them as a bonus, but essential.
Music Worship
The song services went well in both locations. In particular, the variety of songs old and new, more and less familiar, traditional and more modern in Lower Earley helped bring a freshness to the singing. One song we sang, which I wrote, needed more work. It was not helped by the fact that we do not mike up the women. Their part was important because it was only a two-part song. Next time we need microphones for the women.
I have discovered a hidden guitarist in Lower Earley – François. Good news! I shall send him chords for a song this week, and let’s see if he can take part next Sunday.
Note to self: consider whether the men’s and women’s parts need to be heard by the congregation
Other Thoughts
The projector at Lower Earley is not powerful enough. We need to buy a new one. I shall look into that this week. The text is fine on screen, but images are terrible. So much of communication is about images now. It is worth the investment to make sure the pictures are clear.
Last week I said:
- Agree in advance who is leading which song at Lower Earley – done, but not perfectly executed!
- Use the Psalm 100 devotional for all participating in the service in Watford this week – did not happen.
The focus for next Sunday:
- Involve Francois in the musical accompaniment
- Use the Psalm 100 devotional for all participating in the service in Watford this week – carried over
Please comment on what you’re doing locally with your services. What are you trying that’s working? What is God teaching you? Share reflections with us so we can grow and please God.
You can leave a comment below.
God bless,
Malcolm
