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| 1716: Kingdom
Faith Yorkshire, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England |
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Mystery
Worshipper: St Hilda.
The church:
Kingdom
Faith Yorkshire, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.
Denomination:
Kingdom
Faith Church.
The building:
The church meets in an upstairs room at the local library. The
building is probably Victorian, with an eye-catching neo-classical
facade. There are some attractive architectural features in
the room, but they are mostly confined to the ceiling, as the
room itself is a windowless box with a stage at one end. North
Yorkshire Library have a very strong corporate identity, exemplified
by a purple colour scheme. And so the walls are painted purple
and pale mauve, the ceiling cream and purple; the seats are
upholstered in purple and the carpet is purpley-blue.
The church:
Kingdom Faith Church was formed in 1992 by the former Anglican
vicar turned itinerant preacher, Colin Urquhart. It is a small
grouping of churches in London, West Sussex, Yorkshire and South-West
England, with "relating churches" elsewhere in the
UK and overseas. The church has a retreat house, Lamplugh House,
in the wonderfully named village of Thwing, where they hold
regular weekly meetings, retreats, and healing revival weekends.
The neighbourhood:
Scarborough is a well-known British holiday resort, still popular
with families, and in recent years has become a popular area
for those seeking a retirement home. The library is situated
in the centre of Scarborough, opposite a multi-storey car park,
a shopping centre and a defunct Woolworth's.
The cast:
The service was led by someone I was able to identify only as
Pastor Martin, and the preacher was called Joanne.
The date & time:
10 May 2009, 11.00am.
What was the name of the service?
Sunday Morning.
How full was the building?
Probably about half full, maybe 60 or so worshippers.
Did anyone welcome you personally?
As I entered, a church member at the foot of the stairs handed
me a notice sheet while remaining engaged in conversation with
another member. Once I reached the landing at the top of the
stairs, I was pounced on by Peter, a member of the host team.
He identified me as a visitor and took me off in a quiet corner
to get my name and address for further reference. He then found
another member of the host team, Shona, who stayed and chatted
with me until just before the service began. She detached herself
as we moved through into the main room, but promised to come
and see me again after the service. Someone also spoke to me
as I moved through into the main room, but I've forgotten her
name.
Was your pew comfortable?
The seating consisted of rows of tip-up seats, upholstered in purple. They were very comfortable.
How would you describe the pre-service
atmosphere?
Very chatty and sociable. This is only church I've been to where
it was possible to have tea or coffee before the service.
What were the exact opening words of the
service?
"Morning, everybody. Have a seat."
What books did the congregation use during the
service?
None, except for their own Bibles.
What musical instruments
were played?
Keyboards, guitars and drums.
Did anything distract
you?
The worship time was really lively. A couple of people stood
in the aisles and kind of shook. At the same time the odd latecomer
walked in and children wandered around or played with toys.
There was just too much going on.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip,
happy clappy, or what?
The service was quite informal, with worship first, followed
by church news and some people being prayed for, and then the
sermon. There was a period of Hillsong-style rock worship, very
loud and lively, with people clapping, jumping and raising their
hands in praise. I didn't know any of the songs, but after a
few repetitions they were easy to join in with. They had a great
way of doing the notices: they showed a short film, with the
church leaders standing in various scenic locations giving out
the notices.
Exactly how long was the
sermon?
35 minutes.
On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
5 – Pleasant, but rather more like someone talking in house
group than a sermon. This impression was heightened by the fact
that members of the church interspersed amens and similar comments
throughout the sermon.
In a nutshell, what was the sermon
about?
How are we to honour God? By obeying God; by honouring other
church members, particularly leaders; and by being sincere in
our love for God and others.
Which part of the service was like being in
heaven?
The sincerity of the worship offered and the enthusiastic fellowship among church members.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
I just felt uneasy throughout the whole experience. I actually
felt like I shouldn't be there as a Mystery Worshipper. I felt
irrationally nervous of Pastor Martin (who I'm sure is a perfectly
nice person), especially when I took a photo of the room after
the service and he saw me and looked at me. This was the point
where I fled to the outside world.
What happened when you
hung around after the service looking lost?
I stood around for a minute or two, expecting Shona to return
as she had promised – but in vain. Soon a woman came and
asked me if I was all right. She then invited me to go for coffee,
so I joined the queue.
How would you describe
the after-service coffee?
Piping hot tea and coffee in polystyrene cups. I don't know
about the tea, but the coffee was Nescafe, which I don't normally
drink, but I really needed it on this occasion.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
2 – My main problem was that the room was very airless
so that I started to feel very drowsy during the sermon. The
cup of Nescafe didn't really help, and I felt half asleep for
most of the rest of the day. I really don't think church is
meant to do that. It leached out any value in terms of closeness
to God, or teaching received from the service.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a
Christian?
No, it made me feel sleepy.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
The way they did the notices. I want to do that in our church! |
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