Sunday
This morning Dad, Chris and I drove out to Abbotsford to try a new church. It's called St. Matthew's Anglican and we were very impressed with it's vibrancy and how full of life it was. It is one of the churches that has rejected Michael ( I have no idea what his last name is right now but he is the head of the Anglican church) and all of his controversial beliefs - thus there are a lot of new members who have moved from churches that accept him. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, people were very friendly (if not too friendly). We were made to wear this little yellow crocheted crosses which showed everyone that we were newcomers. Then people with these smiley face badges kept coming up and talking to us - they are official greeters of new people. We had just settled into our seats when we were informed by the very nice looking minister that because it is Palm Sunday, we were going to do a processional around the block. Since we were all about getting involved, we joined. Hmmm....too many children who had parents that didn't control them. Unfortunately all I heard was childish voices during all the gospel readings out there. It was interesting though it took 15 minutes. The service started at 10:30 and then we had about half an hour of songs/hymns which were displayed up on an overhead. Now I've been exposed to this sort of worship in Baptist and Evangelical churches but never the Anglican. It was neat but we all felt it went on too long. Plus, I always feel uncomfortable when people start waving their hands in the air and dancing around in their seats and in the aisles. And this happened surprisingly a lot. There were a lot of little old ladies doing it - again, something that I've experienced in other churches but not the Anglican. So when that was over, we did a bit from the Book of Common Prayer (the staple book for the Anglican service) and then instead of a sermon, there was a drama presentation. Because of this 'presentation', they'd kept all the children in the service, instead of sending them to Sunday School. It was very noisy!!! I think there are a lot of parents out there who are afraid of their kids!! Well this presentation was SO WEIRD! Seriously. I have no idea what it was about. There was just this woman singing for about 5 minutes and then people pulling other people out of the congregation and then everyone got bookmarks. Seriously. WEIRD! I was disappointed because I think that their head pastor would have a lot of interesting things to preach about. Then we moved into communion which was very chaotic. I guess with a church that big, it's bound to be chaotic but I dunno. I could have figured out at least 3 different ways to make it work better. But whatever, it went ok. The thing is that I was starting to get tired. We were nearing 12:00 and the service started at 10:15. Then we ended the service with 3 or 4 more hymns/songs on the overheads. Enough already. Finally we were dismissed and then we were pounced on by the "happy face" people who took us down to the hall to get coffee. I really wanted to go but I ended up getting roped into talking with this dancing woman who turned out to be a resource teacher in Mission. She was very nice but a little odd. We finally got away at about 12:30 but not after been given people's phone numbers and told about all the different clubs going on at the church. It was very nice to be accepted but I think it was a bit of an overkill. This was the contemporary family service so I think that next time we'll try the early service which is more traditional. I know that there will be less young people there but to tell you the truth, there weren't that many people my age at today's service anyway. It seems that people disappear from the church until they are about 30 with kids of their own.
After the service, Dad wanted to go for Brunch so we ended up calling Daryl who was supposed to be at a baseball practice (that was why he couldn't come to church with us) but it had gotten cancelled. He met us at Smitty's and we had a very good brunch during which we dissected our morning. We were all very impressed with how vibrant the atmosphere was but I think it was a bit TOO contemporary for us traditional folk. We'll have to see how the 8:30 service is there.
When we got back to Langley, we went to the Toyota dealership and looked at the Matrix, the car that I want to buy. I really really like them and they have one that is perfect for me. It's the only standard in the lot and it's only $22,000. I have to sort out my financing with my bank first before I do anything. If that one is gone, then I'll just order one. My car is slowly dying but it should be ok for a little bit longer. I'll keep you updated on that!
For the next 2 weeks, I am teaching grade 1 at the Fundamental Elementary school. Jeannie's had to fly back to Newfoundland to be with her Dad who's very sick so I am teaching her class while she is gone. I applied for a grade 2 class there for the rest of the year but I doubt I'll get it cause I don't have enough seniority. I would LOVE to work there for the rest of the year though and I think a lot of teachers there are rooting for me. I find out on Tuesday night since it starts on Wednesday!! If I don't get it, I won't be too disappointed though - it'll be a lot of work.
I know I haven't updated on here for awhile but I had written this whole play-by-play of my experience at the hockey game last Saturday on Michelle's computer but I accidentally hit a button and it all disappeared. I was pretty choked so I didn't bother rewriting about it. If I get time one of these days, I will tell all about the vomiting child and everything!!!
After the service, Dad wanted to go for Brunch so we ended up calling Daryl who was supposed to be at a baseball practice (that was why he couldn't come to church with us) but it had gotten cancelled. He met us at Smitty's and we had a very good brunch during which we dissected our morning. We were all very impressed with how vibrant the atmosphere was but I think it was a bit TOO contemporary for us traditional folk. We'll have to see how the 8:30 service is there.
When we got back to Langley, we went to the Toyota dealership and looked at the Matrix, the car that I want to buy. I really really like them and they have one that is perfect for me. It's the only standard in the lot and it's only $22,000. I have to sort out my financing with my bank first before I do anything. If that one is gone, then I'll just order one. My car is slowly dying but it should be ok for a little bit longer. I'll keep you updated on that!
For the next 2 weeks, I am teaching grade 1 at the Fundamental Elementary school. Jeannie's had to fly back to Newfoundland to be with her Dad who's very sick so I am teaching her class while she is gone. I applied for a grade 2 class there for the rest of the year but I doubt I'll get it cause I don't have enough seniority. I would LOVE to work there for the rest of the year though and I think a lot of teachers there are rooting for me. I find out on Tuesday night since it starts on Wednesday!! If I don't get it, I won't be too disappointed though - it'll be a lot of work.
I know I haven't updated on here for awhile but I had written this whole play-by-play of my experience at the hockey game last Saturday on Michelle's computer but I accidentally hit a button and it all disappeared. I was pretty choked so I didn't bother rewriting about it. If I get time one of these days, I will tell all about the vomiting child and everything!!!