Preached yesterday on "...the things that are God's" to a pretty full house; 22 new members received into fellowship as well, but the bad news is that I didn't actually get up into the pulpit to start preaching until about five minutes of the hour. That just seems to be the way it goes these days: about 12 minutes worth of announcements before the service even started (hey, busy church = lots of announcements), plus a special element of the service to welcome the new members...still, I thought we were pretty much caught up by the time the kids left for their classes. But then the candlesharing just went on and on and on -- lots of candles, and lots of long-winded candles too, and for some reason my colleague (who was still down on the lower chancel and supposedly monitoring these things) just let it go, without any of those little indicators to the speakers (like a discrete touch of the shoulder, etc) to clue them in that they were going too long. And the subsequent prayer might have been a little more succinct as well, especially the "moment of silence." A few months ago I'd issued an Edict that although the strategic use of silence was an important (even essential) component of our worship service, that we should try to avoid saying the word "silence" out loud, since it kind of defeats the purpose. But what can I say? With only a few more months here (including just two remaining sermons, on Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekend) I've pretty much given up the authority to make those kind of Edicts stick. And so the service ended up going an extra 20-25 minutes longer than it should have. Bad news for our Sunday School teachers, and for anyone (especially newcomers) who were counting on a "hard stop" right at the hour. But for the most part I think the congregation was pretty well engaged, and happy to sacrifice that extra half-hour for the full experience of the service. I know it's naive and idealistic, but I still like to believe that somehow when those inner doors to the sanctuary swing closed that we have entered "sacred space," where time and the demands of the rest of the world stand still while we take care of our sacred business within those four walls. Naive. Idealistic. But, thank God, more often than not still true.
Meanwhile, back in the real world it's starting to look like I'm going to be receiving a 15 day course of radiation therapy to try to alleviate some of this problem in the upper lobe of my right lung. This is where my primary tumor originally got started, and with the exception of the one distant bone metastasis to my L-3 vertebra (which has cause ALL of these mobility problems) the entire cancer is still localized there, and in a few spots lower down but also in my right lung. The nice thing about the radiation is that it's not very likely to do me any harm, and there's about a 50/50 chance that it will give me some relief. It's going to destroy some lung tissue, but it will also destroy a certain portion of the tumor, and with any luck will open up those airways again and give that lobe a chance to re-inflate. If not, I guess I'm going to still be short of breath...but this probably isn't going to affect my life span one way or another anyway. It's just an opportunity to breath a little easier.
Even if the problem isn't being caused by cancer at all, but is simply the result of a mucus plug. Now doesn't THAT sound appetizing? If you could see the bloody things I've been blowing out of my nose these past several weeks, you would know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. And yes. It's disgusting.... (Hummm... maybe we should all just now observe a "moment of silence....")
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I loved last Sundays service. Yes, the announcements went on and on but as you said, that just speaks to the vibrancy of our community. As to candles...well, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Tim, you could not see your colleague from where you were sitting. He looked like a race horse that was waiting for the starting pistol; poised to leap forward and cut short the rambling but hesitant to do so. It was funny and heartwarming at the same time.
Yes, we ran long. And, yes, the kids and the teachers were left hanging. But for all of that, it was a rich service. As I told you on Sunday, your sermon rocked!
You're right; I couldn't really see what was going on from where I was sitting, which was why it was so frustrating. But yes -- I can just imagine the look on his face, knowing how he feels about these things himself! Glad you liked the sermon too! It feels strange to know that I only have two more "appearances" in the Portland pulpit (although I certain intend to be there leading other parts of the service on the other Sundays).
Bah -- it's absolutely inexcusable to have 12 minutes of announcements, and it's not the minister's job to police that. It is the community's responsibility to recognize that worship services are for the seeker, not to communicate endless information about itself at the hour of worship (which should be AN HOUR of worship, or close to it).
Likewise the Candles of Sharing. To me, that kind of thing doesn't speak of the strength of community so much as it speaks of lack of boundaries. 90% or so of the folks I meet who are "I tried it a few times and I'll never go back" seekers to our congregations cite over-sharing during worship as their #1 turn-off. Again, it should not be a minister's job to police this: the community has to do it.
Keep on it, Reverend!
On a personal note, I really do hope I can sneak up there for a day or so before I leave for Turkey.
If I were part of the worship team, I wouldn't appreciate a blog chastisement for the length of announcements and candles and silence!
Good news on 22 new members.
Oh Diane -- I suppose we can all always use a little chastening now and then, don't you? 22 new members is probably just about keeping us even with frictional attrition, but they are all good folk who are happy to have found the congregation, and we are happy that they have. Meanwhile, keeping the announcements to a reasonable number and policing the candle-sharing norms are two challenges we will always have with us. Because otherwise, the service becomes a disappointment for everyone.
Post a Comment