On 18 June I was delighted once again to be part of a crowd of around two to three hundred people worshipping in Market Place in Macclesfield. The service was organised by Hope in North East Cheshire as part of the 2023 Barnaby Festival which had as its theme ‘In a New Light’.

A large stage had been set up with lots of chairs in front of it, most but not all of which were occupied by a congregation drawn from many denominations across Macclesfield and beyond. The service was led jointly by the Team Rector of St Michael’s Church, the Rev Martin Stephens, and the Commanding Officer of the Salvation Army in Macclesfield, Alice Swain.

The Bible reading from Psalm 34, verses 8 – 14, was followed by a talk by Pastor Gary Holdcroft of the Calvary Church in Macclesfield. Gary used the Festival theme to entertain us with how a change of barber means he now views having his hair cut in a new light, before suggesting that we look for God’s guidance in our churches and in our lives so that we don’t get stuck in a fixed routine but look at everything in a new light.

The musical parts of these services always tend to be joyous and uplifting and this year was no exception. The children from the Methodist Church entertained us again with their puppets waving banners such as ‘JESUS 24 x 7 x 365’ – it makes the point! - all to the tune of the catchy Dolly Parton song ‘9 to 5’. A combined choir from St Michael’s and St Paul’s Churches sang ‘Sing of the Lord’s goodness’ by Ernest Sands. The hymns throughout the service were favourites such as ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul’, ‘So here I am to worship’, ‘Here is love, vast as the ocean’ and ‘In Christ alone my hope is found’, where the singing was led by a band of musicians from several churches and in which we all joined enthusiastically.

The heavy rain that had been forecast stayed away until later in the day and Market Place was bathed in sunshine for the service. Having shared The Grace, we left with the blessing that we should go in peace to love, serve and share the Lord, in the name of Christ.

Overall, we could heartily endorse the words of the call to worship which were ‘God is good’ to which the response was ‘All the time’ followed by the same phrases in reverse order.

AG