Christmas Sunday

I scuttled off to catch the no 4 bus (what would we do without the no 4 bus!) and pick up the auto cool car to go off to Anglade for the service. Gwilym was duty musician at Cenon - all the other musical types have left for cooler climes - so we dropped him off on the way.

We wondered what to do about the songs, etc. Anglade has a fine electric piano and Catrin could have played, but we decided to take the magic music machine - the Christian Hymns II mp3 files, my computer and our bluetooth speaker. 

O come all ye faithful = O peuple fidèle

Angels from the realms of glory = Des anges dans nos campagnes

Hark the Herald = Ecoutez le chant des anges

Silent night = Voici Noël.

It worked very well, though we had a false start because people started singing lustily and with a good courage in the introduction for O Peuple Fidèle. Once they get going there's no stopping them, so I had to let the intro finish, the folk stop, then say "That was the intro, now we start".

The folk sang with gusto, prayed with joy, read with intelligence, listened with enthusiasm.

We were 18 people, the most I've ever seen at Anglade.

Afterwards a brief time of hugs and kisses, then we rearranged the benches and tables for the meal together. A pot au feu of ham and beef with potatoes, carrots and leeks. First the broth is served, and very good it was, too. Then the vegetables come out piled up on one plate and the meat on another. It looked like Desperate Dan's Pig and Beef Stew and tasted very good indeed. The pot au feu was followed by cheese, then squelchy, gooey cakes. I was sat opposite George our ancien combattant, who was in good form, telling us stories, making jokes, reminiscing and doing word play. It was a very happy time.

We left to return to Pessac and return the car. The sun was shining through the windscreen and I was pretty sleepy, but we escaped certain death on the roads and I got my head together a little for the evening. 

The English Service was going to be a small affair. Most of our regulars have flown to cooler climes for their family festivities, so we anticipated being perhaps 8 to 12 people. Just in case we brought a plastic table in from the garden. Pat had concocted a bolognaise sauce for spaghettis. I had a brief talk ready that allowed time for discussion - more Bible study than sermon, really.

Then folk arrived - and by the time we finished we were 23. Two families came who can't normally come because of the evening meeting-time. It's school holidays. I had three points to my study, then thought of a fourth - even more important - but didn't write it down, mainly because I was feeling a bit dopey... Well, of course, I couldn't remember what my fourth even more important point was... Then it came to me. Thankfully. People were happy to discuss my points, which were - The toddler who is God, Worship him, Give to him, Receive great joy from him. 

We sang Christmas songs again and then ate the bolognaise, now bulked up a bit with some red kidney beans! and nice gooey cakes to finish.

I talked with some folk about scheduling and timetabling and so on. We could do with a general discussion before taking decisions. 

All in all a happy, joyful, gooey, cakey, worshipful Sunday.