So, we went to the Mahone Bay Vineyard dealio. It was cool.
The best part was definitely being able to hang out with the Riegers and Rademakers from Winnipeg. It was awesome to connect with Winnipeg church family! Jac had a chance to go over some plans for the Vineyard Village Inn (aka transitional housing at WCV) with them and we had a great time sharing a campsite with the Riegers.
I did get a bladder infection and had to waste a beautiful afternoon in Mahone Bay getting antibiotics. My recommendation: don’t get a bladder infection.
There was a definite theme of justice and the poor at this gathering, especially for Jac and I because of the workshops we attended. It was good, challenging stuff. The lady in our church here who heads up mercy ministry was at the one with me and wants to get me involved. Yikes!
Now I’ll shut up and let some pics do the talking:
The obligatory Vineyard conference worship shot.
Worship in art and song.
Mike Pilavachi informing her: “excuse me, it’s only water!” Funny SOB.
Dan Wilt does this Coram Deo thing with an “ancient-future” mix of worship in beautiful old buildings. Here we’re in Mahone Bay’s lovely neo-gothic Lutheran church.
We finished the night by clustering together at the front to take communion.You can see a few other photos from Mahone Bay on Flickr. If you want to see photos of the lovely town, take this phototour.
7 responses to “Mahone Bay”
Glad you had a good time.
Your whale shots are pretty sweet. Did you go on a boat tour to see those?
Did you by chance do any kayaking?
Matt, why is the WCV so good? Is it just that it’s good for us, and we’re good for it? Or is it something more, like that it is *really* good? I’m thinking we have issues like everyone else, but I’m struggling to understand why I would ever want to do church anywhere else in the future.
Tony: sorry to be misleading, but the phototour is from the town’s website, so I didn’t take any of those. We unfortunately didn’t get a chance to do cool stuff like see whales or go kayaking.
Cam: I’m more and more convinced that WCV is so good because it’s a church that has serving the poor at the heart of its mission. I’m eager to get back there too.
Yeah, ahem, I realized shortly after I had made those comments that those were totally not your pics – the pumpkin shots vs the time of year you were there were the give away.
the vineyard values diversity.
that’s what sets it apart. the vineyard doesn’t just serve the poor, they include them in the life of the community.
the vineyard views the poor and marginalized as an asset, not a cause.
that’s my answer, cam.
The value of the poor as an asset not a cause was loud and clear at the Gathering in Mahone Bay.
Sorry for interloping. I just did a search to see who else was blogging about their Mahone Bay Experience.
Frank: no problem, you are most welcome here. I’m glad to hear that you heard the message of the worth of the poor loud and clear. Were you in any of the workshops to do with that?