Cork, now past...

I guess I have a bit of catching up to do.

We're back at Phil and Cheryl's now after a very busy weekend in Cork. If you read our October 4 entry about our contrasting B&B's in Cork, I must now add another chapter.

Michael O'Donovan, worship leader at Grace Fellowship, got us in contact with Martin (excuse me, "Maatin") and Mary Dunn who look after Maranatha House, a Bed & Breakfast in Blarney, when the owners, Doug and Olwen Venn are away, which they are for January. It is a wonderful manse, built in the mid 1800's. We were the personal guests of the Dunns and the only guests in the house, as it is closed during this time of the year. We were given the Honeymoon Suite, which interestingly has two king-sized beds. I asked if that was in case the newlyweds had a row. What gracious and thoughtful hosts. Plus we felt quite safe with the Venn's two dogs, Samson (the largest German Shepherd that I have ever seen) and Jenny (a black lab-like creature) there to guard us.

So now, a quick rundown of the weekend...

We drove to Cork Saturday morning arriving just after noon. We were to meet with Niamh Varian-Barry, the worship leader for Calvary Chapel Cork, after she finished playing for a wedding (violin). The wedding started later and lasted longer than she anticipated, so Beth and I spent time making the music shop circuit looking for a keyboard stand, speaker stands and a keyboard case, which we had failed to find in Dublin due to everyone being sold out after the holidays. No luck here either.

We were just heading to a cafe to get a bite when Niamh called and was on her way to meet us. A short time later she showed up at the cafe and we made our way to Calvary Chapel which has rented out a few rooms in an office building in the City Centre where Claire (we never learned her last name) was waiting for us. Claire and Niamh have been working together on music and seem to have really found a connection which they are finding very exciting.

The next couple of hours were passed talking about worship and sharing our individual experiences in worship leading. Our desire in meetings such as this is that we might be an encouragement to worship leaders who sometimes feel as if they are out there on their own.

Sunday morning we attended worship service at Calvary. Mike Neglia, the pastor and his wife Rachel and son Eoin, were away. Standing in for Mike was a pastor from south of Cork.

After grabbing some lunch in the City Centre, we headed out to Blarney, north of the city and had just enough time to get our equipment and drive to the Methodist Church in Douglas on the south edge of Cork. We had planned to borrow Niamh's keyboard stand and were short on time, so she conscripted a friend to bring it to us at the church.

Beth and I met with the pastor, Laurence Graham (who we had met in 2003), Paul, who assists him, and their organist Diane. This church congregation, which has been established in Cork for literally hundreds of years, is on the cusp of venturing into the incorporation of contemporary worship into their services and blend it with the traditional. Our conversation with them centered around the vision they have for this change and the frustrations that have arisen in the beginning phases of implementation. We didn't have a lot of ideas that they hadn't already thought of or explored, but after hearing where they are and from where they have come, we were able to encourage them and help them to see that indeed progress has been made and for them to understand that our timing isn't always God's timing for things. We are excited to see what the next couple of years brings.

That evening, we led a night of worship for a small group of church members who gather once-a-month with Pastor Laurence to spend time together in worship.

Monday, we met a local pastor for lunch and gained some new insights and a new viewpoint about our ministry. It's important that we see our ministry through the eyes of others to help us hone our approach and think through all aspects of the ministry in a foreign culture. Of course, we will make our faux pas, but the more we can minimize those, the better.

Monday night, then we were at Grace with Michael O'Donovan and members of the worship team for a 3-hour workshop. We had a great time with this group. One can quickly see that they have great chemistry and camaraderie. They were very fun, but gave serious, well thought-out answers to the questions that were posed. It's exciting to be leading a meeting like this and see on the faces of those attending that you are connecting with them and that they are being challenged to think about some aspect of leading worship in a new way.

We've been invited back to Grace to do several more workshops and we look forward to continuing the relationship we have begun. We'll be back there in April most likely.

And finally, today we stopped to visit Seamus ("Shame-us") and Jenny O'Callaghan in Carlow on our way back to Dublin. Seamus pastors Carlow Christian Community and Jenny is their key worship leader. Beth and I were able to encourage Jenny in her keyboard playing and gave her a bit of a lesson, showing her some new techniques to expand her skills. We spoke with Seamus about coordinating a worship workshop with churches in Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and other towns in the southeast.

I'm tired and have several emails to get out, so I'll cut this short (ha) and close for now.

Stay tuned...