Funny, we didn’t see anything like this with the pope yesterday in Westminster Cathedral. 

But a surprising moment at another Protestant church in the United Kingdom has inspired a new song:

t was a Sunday morning that started off like any other, in a quiet little church in the United Kingdom. Same old formula: sing a few songs, take up an offering, hear a sermon, and leave–unchanged. It had been done that way for years, and the congregation had grown cold, indifferent, and complacent.

So the people gathered in the church weren’t expecting anything new or different. They certainly weren’t expecting what they witnessed. When the pastor stood up to preach, instead of his normal Sunday morning homily, he reached under the front pew, picked up a chain saw and fired it up, and commenced to turning the pulpit into so much kindling.

This act of defiance, desperation, or deep-seated desire for change on the pastor’s part sparked a revival in the hearts and spirits of the congregation, as they were challenged to get off their pews and stop singing “Standing on the Promises” while they were merely sitting on the premises. The tearing down of the pulpit, the symbol of the “professional clergy,” led the church to accept the truth that they were all ministers, all gifted by the Holy Spirit, and all called to serve the Kingdom of God with their spiritual gifts.

Visit this same church today, and you will find Sunday mornings to be radically different. The church has come alive with the power of the Spirit, working through the gifts of the members. There is praise, there is proclamation, there is edification, and there is challenge. And when the gathering is over, there is a mighty outward movement to go into the world and make disciples.

The above story is a true story, and it has been put to music by none other than Don Francisco, the Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter who wrote “He’s Alive,” “I Don’t Care Where You’ve Been Sleeping,” and a string of other Christian and worship music classics. In this new song, appropriately titled, “The Sunday Mornin’ Chain Saw Massacree,” Francisco tells the story of this unusual revival.

“I was not there that day,” Don says, “but visited the fellowship a few years later and saw the results–a revival where many fellowships and ministries were born.” Don says it’s one of his favorite memories of all.

Head to the link and you can hear the song for yourself.