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Street Church, Leeds

Visiting The Lighthouse Church in the Crypt of St. George's Church, Leeds just over a week after worshipping with the Street Church in Rio, provided a rich opportunity to reflect upon similarities and differences...

GOD'S LOVE at the heart of both.
SHARED MINISTRY - lay and ordained - underpinned both.
WELCOME - everyone (known 'regular' attenders and newcomers - like me) was shown warmth, friendship and compassion with open hearts in both.
EMMANUEL - remembering God's presence with us - even in our 'darkest' of times - and God's desire for us to live with hope and trust in the transformative power of the Holy Spirit was the key message in both.
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC - live in Leeds ( we sang a Christian variant to the Beatles' "Let it be"!) and recorded in Rio  (but what a witness worshipping in public)  enriched the quality of worship, generating a tangible sense of corporate endeavour in both
LITURGICAL DRESS - a (retired) bishop in purple shirt, cassock alb and stole in Rio and two casually dressed clergy in clerical collars in Leeds but, in both, a physical demonstration of clerical leadership and presence.
TEAMS - clergy and lay working together in common witness and service evident in both.
SERVICE  - food common to both, clothes and medication in Rio (offered or 'signposted' during the week in Leeds) and lots of interpersonal "TLC" very freely expressed in both
MEN - far more men attending than women in both
CHRIST'S SPIRIT - spoken of, celebrated and evident in both - thank the Lord!

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