I've had a delightfully varied diet of church during the last few days. Sally and I went to Gilfillan Memorial Church for a Christmas Eve carol service, then Central Baptist in Dundee for some lively carols led by the (loud!) worship band on Christmas morning. We then went to St Paul's Cathedral, Dundee, for the Sunday after Christmas for a beautiful mass (ah, the fragrance of incense!) and I was back in Launde Abbey by the end of the week enjoying our quiet, contemplative services.
Then this morning we went to the service at Billesdon Baptist Chapel where our friend Brian Boley led an enthusiastic service of praise and communion to start the year. And during an idle moment my eyes landed on the inscription under one of the windows: "In memory of Ann Swift who died August 13 / 85 also John her husband many years Deacon & Super in this Chapel died 1893".
"Super" is shorthand, of course, for Superintendent. But I really enjoyed that phrase "Super in this Chapel". It was super there this morning, as it usually is. It was also super in the various Dundee churches and in Launde, although all had extremely different approaches to worship.
What makes it super, of course, is the presence of God, who seems to delight in all this variety. Even, oddly, when I find it doesn't all work for me. Apparently God's taste is considerably broader than mine, because whenever I paid attention it was clear he was there.
I'm going to try to remember that when I'm next grinding my teeth at particularly frustrating or loud or boring worship - that it's nevertheless "Super in this Chapel" because God has shown up.
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