When visited:
5th June, 2005, 10:15am
Location:
huge building on the A6 about 1 mile south of central Stockport
Welcome:
Very little beforehand, friendly afterwards. Was invited for a coffee in the church hall, but had to dash.
First Impressions:
Vast building - can seat over 1000. Some banners, etc at the side, but no real impact due to the sheer size of the building. Around 100 people there - fair mix, but with heavy weighting towards the elderly. The cynic in me would suggest a connection between almost all the young adults and the large number of banns being read. The church felt very empty, but they seem to be persisting with a formal arrangement of seats, etc.
Type of Service:
"St George's Service" - fairly traditional, straight down the line Anglican communion. Hymn book and printed liturgy booklet with readings on a seperate sheet. Administration was from both the nave and high table things.
Music:
Organ with choir. The choir were ok, but a very long way from where I was sitting. Otherwise, the singing was poor. I don't see how it could be otherwise in that building used as it was.
Website:
Sermon:
Pretty good and faithful to the passage (Matt 9:9-13, 18-26). Shame they stuck with the lectionary messing about with the passage... It was quite challenging, but not rammed home.
Overall:
Lots of potential, and I could settle here if I wasn't already settled. In the long term, I think they'll need to do lots of stuff outside the box to survive.
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