I have been away from blogging due to work, life and church stuff.
Work: nothing interesting, other than we had a big sales meeting last weekend and they brought in a comic named Greg Hahn and he was great! I got to talk to him a bit and seemed like a good guy. I can imagine that after an act like his (very physical and exhausting) he would run on the adrenaline for a little while after the show and then come crashing down. After the show, I saw him in the hotel lobby kind of bouncing around and wiping the sweat from his brow.
Life: We had quite a gathering at the clergy house last night (The cap's b-day). I can't believe all these people showed up just for me! It can feel pretty uncomfortable for me when people give me presents. In my mind I'm thinking, "You know, you really don't deserve all this." And the people- oh boy! I'm not real big on hugging, but I just wanted to hug everybody that came to my party- just for showing up!
Church: I preached at the local Y last Sunday (4-22) because the church has sold their building and using the proceeds to carry on in a different setting. Total attendance: 9 (including me and the pianinst). Let me give you a glimpse into the morning:
9:00 Clergy arrives at Y to help set up for service. There, he finds an elderly gentleman (at least 80) setting up chairs and moving tables around and about to go into cardiac arrest. I insisted on helping and he reluctantly agreed.
9:20 The person providing special music enters and I introduce myself. He looked familiar, but I wasn't where from. We chatted a bit and it turns out we knew a few of the same people. His solo was "There is a Balm in Gilead" (one of my favorite hymns). He did a nice job although his vibrato sounded a little like Bert Lahr (cowardly lion) in The Wizard of Oz:
"There is a Balm in Gileeeaaaddd, to heal the sin siccckkkk souullll." You've got to hear it to get the full effect.
9:30 Pianist arrives (notice- no congregants yet). She reminded me a whole lot of my late grandmother, who used to play the piano on the radio back in the forties and fifties. You know, big hair, heavy on the lipstick, perfume, nail polish and ready to rock! Anyway, I introduced myself to her and she said, "Oh, it's so nice to meet you Reverend." I said, "Nice to meet you, but call me Steve. We had a brief discussion about the hymns I had chosen and we were approaching showtime.
9:52: The service was set to start a 10 and I was growing a wee but concerned. Just then a throng of people came through the door (5) bringing our grand total to eight. Let's get this party started!
We were done at 10:45 (I don't preach long sermons) and I thoroughly enjoyed (is that the right word?) my time with the group that decided to come to church that day. I hope they were glad they came.
The week that lies ahead: work, church meetings, one overnight, final exam and the Derby...
Grace and Peace-
CC
I am 49 year old father of three and husband of one (for life)
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1 comment:
I know it's a bit late but they did appreciate you - and not just because they were out by 10:45. It's always bothered me that so many church-goers seem to think, "Oh, the pastor's gone today, I'll take today off." It bothers me becasue I really do hope they're coming to church because of their own sense of God's call on their lives and not because the pastor (or someone else) might be keeping score.
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