I wondered if the day would ever come.  I wondered if I would ever have the privilege of joining in a Sunday worship gathering at the Herengracht 88 (H88), together with my spiritual family from Zolder50... At times over the last thirteen months, it seemed like it would be inevitable... at other times, impossible.

But this weekend, it finally happened.

If I must be completely honest, Zolder50's first worship gathering at the H88 actually happened last weekend, while I was enjoying Dutch pea soup at my apartment.  Still, this weekend was my first such experience, and my first opportunity to bring my camera to provide visual evidence of this transition into our new season of life and ministry.

I thought others (maybe you -- yeah, you, reading this post) might also like to see some of the better images that I was able to capture... So here they are.

These first four photographs were actually taken at the "Three Story Evangelism" seminar on Friday night (which I mentioned in my last post).  It was a smaller crowd -- perhaps 35 to 40 people -- which turned out to be a considerably easier environment for taking pictures than a Sunday worship gathering (because there weren't as many people to trip over as I moved around the room, and because I didn't really have any other official responsibilities during the meeting time).  I especially enjoyed some of the shots of people hanging out on coffee breaks between seminar sessions...

All I have to say for these pictures, taken during the "Three Story Evangelism" seminar, is that I only hope that I could look half as hip and handsome as Bob Phillips, when I get to be his age (which has to be almost twice as old as I am right now)!

On Sunday afternoon, we also got to give the new Kids Room at the H88 (which is not yet completely finished) its first real test run, with nine children making use of the space.  It's pretty fun to see life being breathed into these rooms that have taken so much time to take shape...

Of all the pictures that I took at the H88 this weekend, the one below turned out to be my favorite, I think.  I can't say exactly why -- but I like the shot composition, with the colors and the silhouetted profiles in the background, and the coffee mugs and candle focused in the foreground... And I think it just gives a feel for what it's like to be a part of a Zolder50 worship gathering.

The time of worship was beautiful...

I would have liked to have come away with a better shot of Todd teaching (and of other elements from the evening)... but I was kind of chained to the one corner of the room because I had to run PowerPoint throughout the evening.  For the record (in case you were there), we didn't get any new volunteers to serve as a volunteer system coordinator, gastvrouw/heer, clean-up crew, or anything else!  So if you were waiting to see if others might offer themselves before you took advantage of the opportunity... well, the opportunity is still wide-open for the taking!  Next time (two weeks from now), we will probably intentionally let a few balls drop and see if that spurs people to action any better (failing to serve coffee might just start a riot).  You can still let me know, though, if you want to avoid this disaster! :-) 

It is amazing, though, to see how many different looks you can get from precisely the same vantage point (the three previous images)!

For some reason, this last photo strikes me as being a little bit cheesy, like something they would specifically choreograph for a university brochure or something:  the two dashing and delightful young men (just spiffy enough to be trustworthy, just scruffy enough to be cool) engaged in spirited conversation, a carefully arranged plate of cookies balanced on the bar between them, other meaningful conversations unfolding in layers behind them in the background, "cool" club lighting (just like those young folks love!) in the distant background... However, I swear that nothing in the photo was choreographed!  I'm sure my good friend Marco (the bearded guy on the left, a regular reader of this blog) will have a field day with my analysis and commentary on the photo -- but I just couldn't resist posting this too-perfect picture.

All in all, it was a fun weekend at the H88.