Meeting Angels?

‘I met an angel outside my church on Christmas morning’.

By Ian Ferguson 21 December 2021 1 min read

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What I am about to tell you may sound unbelievable.

To be honest, I couldn’t believe it myself.

I cannot count the number of Christmas Eve services I have led during my

 ministry. This particular experience happened after one of those services some 

years ago.

It was 12.30 in the morning. The midnight service had finished and people had 

left the church. I was locking up when I suddenly heard a noise at the front door, 

so I walked over. Standing by the door was a young man. I told him that he had

 missed the midnight service. All he said was that he had come to bless me.

I was puzzled. He was wearing trousers and a jacket. His shoes looked like the

y were sandals - not the kind of attire for a night like this. Outside it was cold and the snow had 

been falling heavily over the church car park. 

Looking at the weather, I said, “Wait there and I’ll drive you home”. I turned to 

lock the office door, which was next to the main door of the church. I think I was 

still talking,

 saying something along the lines of, “You’ve not got a coat...you’ll freeze to death”.

 When I turned

 to face him, he had gone. It was just a matter of seconds. So I rushed out into the 

car park to

 see where he had gone, however, there were no footprints on the virgin snow. 

The car park was 

covered with a blanket of the white stuff.

I thought to myself “Where did he go? Where are his footprints?”

I locked the church, got into my car and managed to get out without getting stuck

 in

 the snow.

It was then, as I was driving home that I felt a warm feeling in my heart. 

I started to laugh. The car seemed to be filled with a strange peace.

When I arrived home, my wife Heather was putting the finishing touches to our

 Christmas lunch for later that day.

“Heather, I think I’ve met an angel.”

She could see by my face that something had happened to me.

So did I really meet an angel? I think I did. I believe in heavenly visitors, and the

 Christmas narrative is full of them.

I shared this story with a few folks and even mentioned the occasion in some of

 my later sermons. One of the people I shared the story with was my dear friend 

of many years, Rev Albert Bogle. He wrote a song based on my encounter — 

‘Just Past Midnight on Christmas Morn’ You can hear it now on Spotify and 

Apple Music. PC.