Church meets Crossroads with goody bags thrown in....

Apologies to those of you who don't remember Crossroads, a Seventies ITV soap set in a hotel (and commiserations to those who do!) This Sunday I attended an NFI - New Frontiers International - church called Hope which currently meets in the Marriott Victoria and Albert Hotel on Water Street, Salford (just up from Granada Studios for those who know the area)

Hope Church should have been very different from St Cuthbert's given that NFI are a relatively new grouping established by Terry Virgo approximately forty years ago and are independent, charismatic and very much engaged at home and abroad in planting new churches. And differences there were - louder, more contemporary music; no liturgy; little formality; no intercessions or bible reading; very groovy Powerpoints with psychedelic video backgrounds etc etc. They also gave visitors 'goody bags' Mine contained a Why Jesus? booklet, a pen, a leaflet about home groups, a welcome registration form and a box of Maltesers!

However, what stood out most were the similarities - the committed core doing most of the work; the taping off of seats at the back to encourage people to sit forward; the ladies making tea and coffee or trying to because someone had forgotten the milk; the bookstall filled with the likes of authors such as Chris Wright, Nicky Gumbel and John Piper; the kids play fighting in the foyer afterwards; individual members struggling with the adversity of life, to judge by the comments of the lady behind me which interspersed the service etc etc. Seems like church, under the surface, looks much the same everywhere.

Other things worth commenting, I believe, are, firstly, negatively, the music which was very similar to that at the church I visited at the end of January, that is lyrics all about Jesus and me and nothing about anyone or anything outside of that cosy relationship. We MUST do better than this both for our sakes, God's sake and those outside the church.

Secondly, then, positively, here was a group of Christians numbering approximately 130 in total with many of them students who had an annual budget of c. £130K which supported a pastor, youth pastor, administrator and several outreach and anti-poverty projects in addition to which they were looking for special monies of, I think, around £2000 a month to facilitate amongst other things their monthly outsiders event usually held in a hotel or similar. No wonder NFI is growing and prospering.