Worshippers met in a small parish hall on an overcast Beltane evening, Wednesday, May 1 to share a light supper of soup and salad, and have a Celtic prayer service, at Edgecomb Community Church on Cross Point Road.

It was a Christian service, but, like so many things Irish and Scottish, the blessings were of mixed parentage. “You are the door that’s open wide, you are the guest who waits inside, you are the stranger at the door, you are the calling of the poor...” is part of a first millennium oral tradition blessing, spoken for the first time only shortly after Ireland was converted to its unique brand of Christianity.

“For the many gifts you have bestowed on us, each day and night, each sea and land,  each weather fair, each calm, each wild ...,” the congregation responded in a prayer of thanksgiving.

A modern beannacht, or Celtic blessing, ended the service: “May the nourishment of the earth be yours, May the clarity of light be yours, May the fluency of the ocean be yours, May the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow Wind work these words Of love around you, An invisible cloak To mind your life.”

A music recording of harp, bodhrán, fiddle, uilleann pipes and hammered dulcimer led the congregation in song. Minister Katie Pinkham hopes to one day have live musicians at the service.

Congregation member Jean Krause suggested the idea of a Celtic service. She attended one while visiting her daughter. Another parishioner said she had attended the same service at the same church. For more than a year, Edgecomb Community Church has held the services twice a month.  “I said I’d be happy with two (attendees),” Krause said. “We had six. The next time, we had eight. Then 12.” At its height, 22 people came, she said. Attendance fell off a little in the winter, but is now rebounding.

For some, it’s a way to participate in the life of the church in a more relaxed atmosphere. For others, it chimes a chord based on heritage.  For still others, it’s a peaceful celebration of fellowship with friends.

The service is open to all, of all ages, Pinkham said.  The light supper begins at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. The prayer service follows supper. Enter through the thrift store door and turn left. For more information, call 882-1460, email edgecomb.church@gmail.com, or visit www.edgecombchurch.org