Richhill Methodist Church
NORTH WESTERN DISTRICT
Sunday gathering at Richhill Recreation Centre
A story of exile and hope
When COVID hit, Richhill Methodist felt like they were trying to steer an oil tanker in a storm without power or navigational equipment. All they could do was hold on and wonder where they would end up after this storm had passed.
Their situation didn’t improve greatly. As life began to get back to a new normal in Richhill following the COVID storm, they found themselves disorientated once again by having to prepare for a yearlong exile from their church home. The church started to make plans to move out once again and relocate themselves in Richhill Recreation Centre as they extended and renovated their church building on Tandragee Street.
They had been encouraged by the new life and opportunities coming into the church since they started meeting after COVID, but they did wonder how people would respond to another upheaval in the church’s life. Would people sojourn with them into their exile from their safe and comfortable church home? Afterall, life in the Recreation Centre would be unfamiliar. So, what did they discover as they “sang the Lord’s songs in a foreign land?”
At the Recreation Centre, Sunday worship is stripped back and not what they were familiar with – their worship band are smaller, technology opportunities are extremely limited, the acoustics in the hall are poor and they have returned to singing from songbooks again that have been specially produced for their year away. Not to mention the uncomfortable chairs, the children having to squeeze into smaller rooms, the youth group operating in an exposed and cold reception area, and people praying in cold and uncomfortable changing rooms!
Not everyone felt able to join them on their move to the Recreation Centre for one reason or another, yet even in their exile they have been experiencing the presence and provision of the Lord as he continues to bless them in that ‘foreign land’.
The atmosphere is full of warmth and community, and it has been wonderful to worship together with so many faces both familiar and new.
Although they are only six months into their temporary stay, they have been able to see small signs of growth as new people join them.