Episcopal Tourist in Brussels

Some of you may know that I am in Brussels singing Mendelssohn's Elijah. Today is his 200th birthday and the concert is tomorrow.
This morning long before any of you were awake (I hope), I got up, had breakfast, walked down to the Central station and caught a train to Waterloo, yes, that bad place for Napoleon.
It was about a 20 minute ride with lovely , o so green Belgian fields spread out everywhere. It is spring here with trees in full bloom. At the station, I grabbed a taxi for a short ride to All Saints Episcopal Church. How many of you know of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe? It was started in the 19th century to provide for the spiritual needs of Americans in Europe. The convocation is now multicultural, multinational, multiracial and multilingual.
I was greeted warmly as soon as I opened the front door of the church.The gentleman said "You look lost" to which I replied "But now am found". He quickly introduced me to several people including a Franciscan who preached the sermon.
I went and took my seat. The church has moved to this new building quite recently. I understand it is a former nightclub, a real switch from churches turning into nightclubs. It is a lovely very bright space with clear windows letting in the rare Belgian sunshine. , It is just a bit bigger that our Crissey Farm space.
As I prayed, the organ, an old Allen electronic, began playing the opening hymn "At the Lamb's High Feast". The style here is to just play a short intro, not the whole verse, so by the time I found the correct page we were nearly halfway through the first verse. Except that no one was singing. So I chimed in loudly and soon had them going.
It was Low Sunday and there was not a large crowd. There were maybe 40 or 50, but quite a few children came in later
We began with the collect for purity and launched into the readings. Texts were not provided and the reader's clarity made in unnecessary. The Epistle, however, was read in excellent though not native French with a translation provided. Belgium is made up of Walloons, French speakers, and Flamands who speak Flemish. English is widely spoken also, especially by Flamands.
The Gospel procession was lead by the very young Crucifer who took his job with great seriousness.
The sermon was by Mark Barwick , a Franciscan and Priest who was without his stole today. He preached on the Gospel. Doubting is good he said going back to ancient Judaism where skepticism was very much respected. He encouraged us to think very hard of the meaning and importance of the words while saying the Creed. We need to see with our heart through eyes of faith.
The prayers of the people were led in impeccable Queen's English. We exchanged the peace and the rector introduced me and another visitor , an EU representative who lives in Seoul Korea.
We celebrated Communion with Prayer C, AKA the Star Wars Eucharist. I was impressed and moved that the rector addressed me by name when serving the Host. The recessional was Alleluia, Alleluia, by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
I listened to the brief postlude and went out to the coffee hour. Everyone was very friendly and I had no moments of feeling lost. Coffee was served in china cups and there were some lovely cakes to be had also. When I spoke with the rector Kempton Baldridge, I found out that I will see him in Anaheim this summer for General Convention as he is a clergy alternate deputy. Amazingly, he had just returned yesterday from Northampton,Ma as his daughter is in Smith College. This is a very interesting and diverse group of people. There are quite a few British Anglicans. One lady said how she loved the familiarity of the service even if it is a bit different than the C of E. The Organist and I chatted. He is also carillon player. He pointed out another older gentleman nearby who had studied with Maurice Durufle the famous French organist and composer. Episcopalians are just interesting people!
Mark Barwick gave me a ride to the station and I got my train back to Brussels.
Peace to you all!