i am finally able to sit down one night and write about my 2 trips to other churches in the last couple of weeks.

first, surprisingly i found a church in utrecht, netherlands. yes, i was in that lovely small town of canals and such and good ol' google netherlands found me an english speaking church that just happened to be an anglican one!

it's called the Holy Trinity Utrecht Anglican Church. i went on April 6th, the day i was leaving the netherlands. it wasn't hard to find - thanks to good ol' google map on my blackberry (yes, it's quite international!).

i had high hopes for this church. but it completely failed.

i just wanted to worship and be in God's presence. but what do i get? i get the following:

• some hymns (okay, an okay start)


• a prayer of penitence:
  Jesus Christ, risen Master and triumphant Lord, we come to you in sorrow for our sins, and confess to you our weakness and unbelief. We have lived by our own strength, and not by the power of your resurrection. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us. We have lived by the light of our own eyes, as faithless and not believing. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us. We have lived for this world alone, and doubted our home in heaven. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us. May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.


• we listened to some reading from Acts 2


• and then came on the program called "the Talk.
  it should actually be called "an interactive 3 min conversation." suddenly, one of the musicians rose - who was wearing the collar - and started to converse with us in the pews! and he pointed to the stained glasses telling us to observe what has happened during Easter and asked questions. and that was it.
  
• declaration of faith:
  We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

(btw, i'm getting all these from the church of england website)

• anyhoo, then communion, from which EVERYBODY drank from the wine cup! i dipped mine. shudder.


• THEN!!!! it said in the program "the president pronounces the Blessings." and i was like huh? well, they literally said "Happy birthday Annie! Happy birhday Jonnie!" etc. - except they SANG the HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS SO NOT RIGHT! i was flabbergasted. SO STRANGE!
  

then...the benediction. just so so strange. if i ever go back to utrecht for some biz, i'm not going back there. i just left there literally scratching my head and not at all in commune with God! hmph.

a couple of weeks ago, a thousands miles away from utrecht, i attended a PCUSA church in Franklin, TN, because i was visiting my old church's pastor's family who had relocated to there. it's called the crossroads ministry and it's relatively young. thank the lord that they didn't sing happy birthday. what the heck!??! i still can't get over it. anyway, it was a nice service and all (but no communion :(...) but...the point of this blog is to say...

I REALLY MISSED MY CHURCH! even though i was back this past weekend, i couldn't attend the service due to my commitment to the sunday school. and i'll be missing it again this coming weekend because i'm going to visit my fav (and only) nephew's 2nd birthday. here's the latest photo.


GOD BLESS!