Freeway Church

Yesterday we took a group of friends up to visit Freeway Church in Hamilton, Ontario. It's about a 3 hour drive from our home, which gave the seven of us plenty of time to enjoy each other's company. We took a different exit off the QEW this time which gave us a much different impression of the city. In January we came in through the "industrial sector." Picture factories straight out of a Tim Burton Batman film spewing black and grey smoke everywhere. But this time we drove in from a different direction and saw that Hamilton is actually quite a nice city -- nothing at all like the setting for a Mad Max movie that our previous trip had led us to believe. I think their whole economy is based on Tim Horton's and Pizza Pizza shops, as we seemed to pass them every block or two.

We made it to Freeway in plenty of time for its 6 pm meeting only to discover that the location had been moved that evening for a special art gallery/coffee house. Luckily for us, we ran into Chris from the church who gave us directions. Turns out it was only around the block, but when you don't know your way around the city...

As always it was a blast to hook up with Pernell & Company. They had set up an impromptu gallery showcasing artwork by members of the church and young people from the drop-in center next door. There were some poetry readings and some great music, too. It wasn't what we were expecting, but it turned out to be just what my leadership team needed -- just to relax and have some fun. The Freeway is a group that knows what church is all about. Check 'em out if you're ever up in the Hamilton area.