We are all off on our Parish Weekend away soon. The speaker is none other than Adrian Plass of whom I am a MASSIVE fan!!! I hope the rest of the church get his jokes and therefore the point of what he is saying as he is actually very astute indeed.

I have always gained a huge amount from his writing because it really exposes the stuff in the church which is unecessary (that which is of our own making and not of Gods). Sadly, there are alot of aspects of the wider church which fall into this category. Why? I have observed that many are only there because congregations feels safe and secure with them in place and not because they actually help anyone to grow spiritually. In fact, I think some of the traditions and practices which we hang on to so dearly can get in the way of spiritual growth.

I am not just talking about 'Traditional Anglicanism' or traditional practices in an old fashioned sense, but am equally concerned about the reliance I have seen by more modern forms of church on a particular way of worship, version of the Bible or type of musical expression to be allowed or encouraged.

I for one believe that it is not 'how' we worship God which counts, (each of us are individuals and will express ourselves differently,) but why. Each of us must be focussing on God amd our relationship with him when we worship. In simple terms it is what goes on on the inside that really matters.

Hopefully the spiritual experience of our chuch this weekend will be edifying to God, meaningful to each individual and tangible evidence of true communion with one another.