Rev. B Turner HC, welcomed us to join her congregation for worship on Sunday July 31st, 2016.

 

     Our children thought she was wonderful, especially because she passed bowls of candy among the the 50+ people who were in attendance.  Rev. Turner explained this was a sermon illustration about thankfulness.  We often forget to thank God for the little things in life.  She had just been through thyroid cancer surgery so she preached about being thankful in all circumstances.

     We all got a kick out of Rev. Turner because she would talk to people from the pulpit, and people would respond.  She even gave the organist a hard time for playing an extra verse of one of the hymns.

     Our children were welcomed to receive communion, and we all stood around the altar area as the pastor and communion assistant served us the bread and wine from small metal cups.

     At the end of the service they quickly transformed the worship space into a fellowship space with tea, coffee and a variety of cakes and biscuits.  It was wonderful to talk with people about their worshipping community.  We were warmly welcomed into their community.

 

     The amazing stone church is actually a historic building in Porthleven, on the coast of Cornwall.  So the congregation can’t do anything to it without special permission.  For example, one older gentleman told me they would love to take some of the pews out in order to make the large space more “multi-use” for young people’s events, but so far they have been unsuccessful.

     Also, the cost to heat this old stone building is considerable, so during winter the congregation meets in another part of the building to try to save money.

     The church nave is surrounded by a 360 degree balcony.  One older lady told me that years ago they had a choir that would sit just below the organ and all the pews in the balcony would also be full of people.  It must have been quite an amazing experience to have this church full of people.

     Due to the balcony, the pulpit had to be built up to a considerable height so that everyone could see the pastor.  Now they don’t use it, except on special occasions, like the visit of a Lutheran pastor from California (hah!).