WALKING out of the rain and into the small chapel at the Center Parcs holiday camp near Nottingham, I immediately assumed it was Church of England. It was the acoustic guitar on its stand, the curly-cornered copies of Mission Praise, plastic seats, small sad statue of Madonna and child alone in a corner, the altar in the style of a picnic table, that gave it that curiously Anglican air. And that’s not even mentioning the resin-moulded Stations of the Cross.

In fact, the chapel is nondenominational. So, Anglican in all but name.

The chaplain at Center Parcs is the Rev Annette Cooper, Rural Dean of Worksop and priest-in-charge of nearby Edwinstowe. The literati of Hampstead and Richmond might find the concept of a weekend at Center Parcs to be most non-PLU — “not for People Like Us” — as some delicately informed me beforehand. In any case, they might find the prices prohibitive. The pool is fabulous, the forest delicious and cool, the restaurants exclusive and costly.

Naturally, local people in Nottinghamshire are not permitted day visits to this oasis of leisure on their doorsteps. But a clergyperson chosen to take a service can also take along spouse, children, friend and friend’s children. Thus the Sunday morning gig at Nottingham Center Parcs is highly prized by ministers of all denominations in the area.

The Rev Paul Burton, nonstipendiary minister at West Bridgford United Reformed Church, took our service. The front two pews were occupied by his wife Christine, their two children, Joshua and Iona, and friends of theirs with children. This was one of three services he will take in the chapel this year. His own church numbers about 150. At Center Parcs he has had as few as seven worshippers, but once turned up to a chapel bursting with 200 or more.

Our service was towards the lower end of the spectrum, but the chapel felt surprisingly full. The atmosphere was warm and friendly. Unusually for church, everyone was smiling. Everyone looked happy. Mr Burton loves it. “People are not going there as a duty, as they might at their own church. They go because they want to.”

He finds himself used as a counsellor by those who prefer to open up to a stranger. On holiday, the barriers come down. Even the odd bishop, on holiday there, has sought him out for a chat. The collections taken are given to charity.

“At the end of the day, we are all looking for an answer,” he said in his sermon. He quoted Douglas Adams, and confessed to finding God as a teenager, when his father died. People find God in different ways, he said. It reminded me of a saying used by members of an organisation I belong to: “I looked everywhere for God, and that’s where I found him.” But it must be confessed, even I never dreamt of finding God at Center Parcs.

A five-star guide

VENUE: Center Parcs, Nottinghamshire.

CHAPLAIN: The Rev Annette Cooper.

SERMON: On the different ways of seeking truth.

ARCHITECTURE: Small, modern hexagonal building, architectural apology for Christianity.

MUSIC: Guitar-led Graham Kendrick worship songs that most of us did not know.

LITURGY: United Reformed Church Communion service

SPIRITUAL HIGH: “As the Hart pants for the cooling stream,” our reading went, but our hearts longed for the pool. So I can’t explain why the service was so strangely exhilarating.

AFTER-SERVICE CARE: Coffee and biscuits.