The congregation came from much wider than the Westminster village and I sat with a lady from a Methodist Church in Bow and a Minister from Streatham.
It was held in the high Anglican venue of the Parliamentary Chapel. We even had no less than eighteen totally redundant candles. It was a bit spooky saying the Covenant confession as Big Ben struck six.
Nevertheless the singing was just amazing. Over 150 Methodists going at Love Divine really makes the spirit move. I warmed to the organist who played Here is Love during the communion call. I wanted to start singing, as did one or two others.
Martin Turner, the Minister at Westminster Central Hall gave a cracking sermon. His point was that the Old Testament lesson (Deuteronomy 29:10-15) was about the corporate or national response, the New Testament, (John 15:1-10) was about the individual. Many Covenant Services are about the New Year, this one had a little edge.
One point Martin made that I especially appreciated was that when the people of Israel were drawn up in the Deuteronomy included amongst them were the "aliens" - a real remider that God is inclusive, as we should be too.
Afterwards we had a cup of tea and cake and I met one or two readers of this very blog. Alas a 5.45 start this morning and the promise of another tomorrow meant that I had to leave earlier that I would have liked.
All in all a good evening and one service that every Methodist should make once in a lifetime. Let's pray for those who carry our name into the Mother of Parliaments.
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