Westminster Abbey

We were going to tour Westminster Abbey, but it costs 15 quid. However, we noticed a sign for Evensong at 5 p.m., after the paid tours finish.

We showed up at 4:30 and were directed to stand with a crowd in the nave, waiting to go in. I was really surprised at how many people were there. I'm sure some were just tourists, but once everyone was seated there had to be 300 people.

Thankfully, it was a choral evensong. The choir began to sing with that ethereal, almost otherworldly sound that is so characteristic of English cathedral music. It sent tingles up our spines.

I don't think I could be an Anglican, but I do find Anglican liturgy, well done, one of the most beautiful things in the world. And this was truly beautiful.

I've been reading a book by Bob Hopkins and Mike Breen on clusters. They make the point that a lot of churches take the cathedral-inspired service as the norm. But whereas places like Westminster Abbey can do it REALLY, REALLY well, most churches can't. They have a choir and try to sing anthems by Purcell or Mendelssohn, but it's nothing but a shadow of what it ought to be.

Same thing for churches like Willow Creek. How many churches have tried to emulate Willow Creek, but done it really badly?

Bob and Mike's advice is that churches shouldn't try to be what they're not, or to take something that requires enormous resources which they will never have as the standard. What churches of any size can do is to be communities of disciples, and they shouldn't divert resources from those essential tasks into trying to put on a Sunday "event" that is beyond their capacity.