I AM writing this a week earlier than planned having swapped with Father Mark Hogan. I know Father Mark reasonably well, he is a local Catholic priest and I’m a Pentecostal pastor. Whilst we are from different Christian traditions we have become friends through our common interests.

In sitting down to write this I realised that the best way to describe us would be “the same but different”. The same because we fundamentally believe the same things and our faith is centred on Jesus. We both believe what Jesus said of Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” John 14:6 (NASB). Different because the way that we worship Jesus, the format of the services we lead, the songs we sing, etc, draws on diverse traditions and cultures making it “different”.

If you are reading this and do not go to church because you “don’t like it” maybe you feel that way because you have not visited a church that fits with your culture and traditions. So why not enter “church Basingstoke” into Google search and visit a few different churches. You may get a pleasant surprise because we are all “the same but different”.