God on Mondays

It's several months since my colleague Jenny and I started thinking about how we could engage with the parents and children of Tredegarville school, adjacent to St James. We've had to accept the theft of Sundays as a special family day for worship and companionship by the new pattern of work and leisure which the modern economy imposes on us, and church and society acquiesce. Everyone wants things easier and cheaper, and that has generated the illusion that a seven day week, and people obliged to work all hours and across holiday periods, will achieve this objective. So would it work if we were to invited families to come into church immediately after school, for refreshments and a short act of worship and Christian teaching. We shared the proposition with the Head and her staff, and found they were keen to give it a go. So this week on Monday we had the first of three Monday services under the title 'Countdown to Christmas'. To our delight, thirty children and twenty adults turned up, and three members of staff. Jenny gave a talk and used a large print of an icon of the prophet Isaiah as a focal point. I got to play the guitar and lead the singing, a great pleasure, as I haven't done that with children or adults for years. Everyone was very pleased with what we did. The test will be whether or not they return for number two next week.
It must be forty years ago since my late mentor, Alun Davies, Vicar of my home parish of Ystrad Mynach, and one time Dean of Llandaff wrote in his monthly Vicar's letter, envisaging the time (which has now arrived) when Sunday would just be another day in the week, and people whose work patterns were so varied would have to choose a day for worship which would be 'their Sunday'. He lived to see it. We live to experiment with it in our efforts to transmit all that we treasure to a new generation.