My apologies in advance to Calvinists reading this.  Although, perhaps it is not I who should apologise but their confrères in Cannes, where Calvin500 rather takes a back seat to the Church of Gaia.

How disappointing, especially as I had not attended a Calvinist service before.  My expectations were completely misplaced.  And that can only be my fault.

If I had attended this service anytime other than during the run-up to Calvin’s quincentenary, I would be writing this a bit differently. 

I went to the Communion service on Sunday, June 21 (yep, it was a busy day churchwise), at the Eglise Reformée in the Rue Notre-Dame (right behind La Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic).  Sunday service is there at 10:30 a.m., except during July and August, when it is at 9:30 a.m. 

First, I really liked the greeter, who also read the story of creation from Genesis.  He did a beautiful job — probably the best Bible reading I’ve ever heard: expressive and clear. 

Second, Pasteur Tambon (Pasteur Morlacchetti was on holiday at the time) preached nice and slowly, so that even a beginner in French could understand what he was saying.  He was reflective and pleasant.  

Third, it was nice the way he asked us to assemble around the altar for Communion (I have borrowed an image from their Cannes Film ‘Jury Oecumenique’ to illustrate).  We had brioche for bread and grape juice for wine.  The bread was on a silver salver which we passed around.  One person handed a piece to their neighbour to take.  That person then did the same for the person next to them.  The ‘wine’ could be taken either from a silver chalice or in a plastic disposable cup (like Methodists do).  The only disadvantage with the disposable cups was that the seriousness of the occasion was broken somewhat by the necessity of one of the parishoners passing around a receptacle into which these could be placed.  It detracted somewhat from the sacramental, which was why I sipped from the chalice, which, admittedly, they could have wiped between uses.  However, I don’t worry too much when it comes to Communion.  Maybe I should.

For those reading this and wondering if anyone opted out of Communion, the answer is no.  I’m sure you could have, but you would have been the only one in the pews, at least on this occasion. 

Finally, there was no shaking hands in a ’sign of peace’ — always a plus. 

Although Pasteur Tambon’s sermon was excellent — yes, even given the subject matter — and well delivered, I would have preferred it as a weekly lecture topic not a Sunday morning one.  He made a couple of points worth taking away.  One, he acknowledged that most of us don’t feel comfortable using the word ‘creation’ with its negative associations.  However, he noted that Genesis refers to ‘creation’ and not ‘nature’.  Two, he said that we sometimes just need to admire nature and leave it alone.  Third, and he mentioned this before the last point, but it was the one I remember the most, which is that God created the world and its creatures before he created Man and, such as it was (before Man), he pronounced it good.  Therefore, we are not the be-all and end-all.

How Church of Gaia was it?  Well, the monthly newsletter suggested other readings for that Sunday, which would have been better from a spiritual point of view.  Also, there was this undercurrent that we weren’t doing enough to care for a fragile part of the world — the Côte d’Azur.  Interesting, given that many of the people there were middle-aged or older than Pasteur Tambon. (I don’t know any French people in this cohort who lack respect for the environment; in fact, the opposite is true.) It might have been a better message for the youth group.

Would I go again?  Yes, particularly as we were staying close by.  But not if this is a recurring theme.  Check out the above link to the newsletter to read more about Gaia.