At Sheffield

(Pictures of St. Thomas auditorium at the third service, and the small Iranian meeting later at 1:30 PM)

I first heard of St. Thomas in Sheffield, England while a student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This ministry grew from a small church of 50 to a congregation of 1700 meeting in two different locations. Ever since learning about St. Thomas I've wanted to visit and see it for myself, especially since "churches in Europe do not grow" this large. This past weekend we were in the area and were able to visit the church.

Here are a few of my personal observations of the Philadelphia Campus church:
1) The church is located at the cities' center, in a depressed area; obviously the church has learned to reached out into this community.
2) The (Philadelphia) campus was a disjointed group of buildings--none of which looked like a church-- most of which had been business institutions or warehouses. The auditorium was a very large warehouse that was spacious (could seat around 700) but not elaborate.
2) The music was contemporary but not "edgy;" most of it was choruses I've heard in contemporary churches of America (e.g. "Our God is An Awesome God"). There was a praise band with three miked singers (one with a guitar), a drummer and two other guitarists. At the front of the auditorium several "praise members?" were "dancing" with the music; a bit distracting for first time visitors, but not greatly so. (The rationale behind this practice would be interesting to know)
3) Though much planning had obviously gone into the service, it was not done with precision--excellence was not the goal. No one seemed to mind. I wondered whether this was a studied effort not to be too formal. For example, there was a constant lag in the Power-point presentation of the words of the songs. there may have been a lack of excellence, but there was not a lack of planning. Apparently, excellence was not the goal; being informal and casual was.
4) The first song was sung for the kids, was up-beat, fast and moving. The kids were encouraged to come down to the front and "dance" to the music. They were taken out to a different worship service after the first song.
5) The announcements ("notices") were done by two young adults, a male and female, who did them with a casual flair, looking up to the screen now and then.
6) The dress was casual for everyone. The two leading pastors wore jeans and polo shirts--one with a high collar. I was the only one with a suit (no tie). There was one man with a suit and tie, but he was a foreigner. (grin)
7) Communion-in the Anglican manner-was served to the 600+ in attendance, by provided several "stations" throughout the auditorium. (One corner of the building served wine without alcohol).
8) The message was simple, biblical and well delivered by Rich Robinson, one of the pastors.
9) There was an informal invitation to accept Christ or to come forward for "prayer or for healing."

St. Thomas church has learned how to do the work of evangelism among their people. In the process, this has attracted people who do not live in this area to the church. People like a winner.