New Road Baptist Church

Today I gathered with the congregation of New Road Baptist Church for worship.  New Road Church has been  in existence since 1653 and moved to its location on "New Road" in 1721.  Not exactly what I consider all that "new" but in Oxford, that classifies as Johnny come lately.

The church architecture was not that dissimilar to many churches in the U.S.  There were rows of chairs with green pads and a center aisle.  A balcony was held up by posts around the sanctuary and two rows of chairs ran lengthwise along the outer walls.  The baptistry was off in the left hand corner and had raised sides and looked a bit like a jacuzzi with a dove in tile work on the floor.  The sanctuary was by no means large, but a comfortable space with a churchy feel.

The crowd that gathered was small but quite diverse.  Following the service, two of the older ladies took me on a tour.  It ended in their coffee house which is in the oldest part of the building where many  who came to worship sat and shared tea and a biscuit (cookie).

I noticed a few distinctive things in worship (aside from the real wine in communion).

1.  Like Faith, they had an offering (what Baptist Church doesn't?).  When the ushers had finished the collection, everyone stood.  I expected to see them return and place the money at the front.  Instead, they carried to the altar the elements of communion.  It made me remember that we give because God gave.  It reminded everyone present that our sacrifice was small, but that Jesus sacrifice was great.

2.  They passed the peace late in the service before communion.  In other churches that have this tradition where I have attended, this is almost always an early or final activity.  In Baptist Churches it tends not to be a holy or formal time, but a time to welcome visitors and friends.  But within the confines of the service, this was different.  It was almost as if in the midst of worship, we were pulled back into the realization that we were not alone but fellow journeyers.  An elderly woman, who later told me that she had been a member for over 40 years, made a point of coming over to me and grabbed my hand in both of her wrinkled and splotched hands.  She looked me in the eye and with a beatific smile said, "Peace be with you."  And I sensed that she really meant it.  Though she had no idea who I was, I was a part of her community on that day and she offered the blessing of peace.  It was not a perfunctory duty but a holy moment.

3.  At the conclusion of worship, they have a very different procedure than we do.  In America, on the final verse of the closing hymn, the hymnal is shut, the belongings are gathered and everyone tenses as if waiting for the starter's gun to go off so that they can hit the door at full speed.  When worship is over in Britain, and I was told this is tradition, everyone sits down.  They just sit there for a moment and then will slowly gather their belongings, share a word or two with those around them and then leave.  It is almost as if they need the time to decompress or prepare themselves for leaving the heights of worship for the rigors of life.  They are in no hurry to leave because what they have just been a part of matters.

I guess if I had to choose a word to describe today's worship, it would be the word "linger".  Nothing was in a hurry, and there seemed no press to leave.  There was space in the silence for God to speak.  It was a good day.