How was church today?

[Luce NDs]

There was an article in CBC about weaponized AI! Sometime it gives a person a sense of being targeted by the improbable quanta ...

Thus blips in deep space that resemble wrinkles in reality as a virtuous deception ... mental irregularities?

They may seem bumps when really holes in the system ... incomprehensible sentience? Just so we can experience not knowing .... the without portion of the god of wisdom so Phi as' mule train ...

Bone in the shifting whispering sans ...

 

[GiancarloZ]

I get to do more extemporaneous prayer than is typical. There is more extended silence where they are doing some directed silent reflection than is usual.

Some appreciate the change and suggest it is something we could do more often.

None express any dissatisfaction.

I know because you expressed it in the Liturgy thread that this isn't exactly your cup of tea. But even if you don't get to repeat it, how was the experience of leading people who didn't know exactly where they were going? And how was the experience of improvising a little bit?

 

[GiancarloZ]

Couple of interesting church life stuff going on here.

Part one. In the ELCIC church where I'm a formal member they run a contemporary service, which is more reflexive and informal, once a moth. The guy who's responsible for it is a Theology student who's going to be ordained soon, so he invited me to be in the group which is running the service after his departure. I accepted, and we had the first meeting to plan the first service without him. The other members of the group are all Colombians, which means we have a lot of shared ground. Loved the experience and I'm looking forward to the first service we lead together, on May 24. The theme will be Thy Kingdom Come, to introduce the global prayer movement started by the Archbishop of Canterbury some years ago (Thy Kingdom Come | Thy Kingdom Come).

Part two. We went to the Anglican church on Sunday. My wife is joining the kitchen roster to help with coffee, refreshments, and treats that follow the service. She also enjoys the higher liturgy and the sermons there (which have been good, indeed). So it seems this will be our Sunday church for good. A lot of people have been asking me about the prayer and faith discussion groups that I'm starting. I finally got the keys for the exterior and interior doors that I needed. Talking about the service itself, the liturgy went as always, but the sermon was really really good. The priest explored the link between science and Christian faith in a deep and informed way (he comes from a scientific background). The only thing that bothers me a little bit in the Anglican church (but the Lutherans here do the same) is receiving Communion every Sunday. I'm more a once-a-moth guy.

Part three. In Brazil I would never think of being involved in two different denominations, but here, with the full communion agreement between ELCIC and the Anglican Church of Canada, it doesn't feel exactly as being "bi-denominational" but actually working to bring forth the full communion to reality. I hardly can see myself as an Anglican, it's difficult to let my Lutheran identity go, but I do like to do ministry in this particular Anglican congregation as it's an inner-city church while the ELCIC parish is in a rich suburb. It seems to be complementary rather than any other thing.

 

[Mendalla]

The priest explored the link between science and Christian faith in a deep and informed way (he comes from a scientific background).

Does he post his sermons (in any form, written, audio, video are all okay for me)? Science and faith has been a bit of a theme on Homebrewed Christianity (progressive/liberal theology podcast that I listen to, though I'm switching to The Liturgists this week) recently so I'm kind of into the subject right now. Might be interesting to see his take.

 

[GiancarloZ]

Does he post his sermons (in any form, written, audio, video are all okay for me)? Science and faith has been a bit of a theme on Homebrewed Christianity (progressive/liberal theology podcast that I listen to, though I'm switching to The Liturgists this week) recently so I'm kind of into the subject right now. Might be interesting to see his take.

I don't think he posts his sermons anywhere. I can ask for the notes of this one particularly, if you want, next Sunday.

 

[revjohn]

I know because you expressed it in the Liturgy thread that this isn't exactly your cup of tea. But even if you don't get to repeat it, how was the experience of leading people who didn't know exactly where they were going? And how was the experience of improvising a little bit?

We still followed a liturgy, even if there were only three of us who could tell where we were at any given moment.

What was on the fly was the content of the various elements. Because I write a lot of responsive prayers for our liturgy they don't necessarily flow from an individual perspective. So I needed to go extemporaneous and just forget about the call and response aspect of responsive prayer. Which wasn't a great hardship.

As far as experience goes I know what I am doing so I'm not worried in any given moment.

As far as improvisation goes I am fairly adept at it. Up until a few years back I was a regular in a Youth Service Drama team put together by a former member of Wondercafe.ca, the Rev. Dr. Brad Morrison (he originally posted as EZed and later became GUC) but that was way before your time.

 

[Carolla]

Worship today was at our Regional Council meeting - included the covenanting with new regional staff and new regional presidents. Included lots of singing of course. Scripture, prayers, sermon about hope, communion ... long service for sure. Followed by a three hour drive home with Birthstone, who was also my roomie for the weekend

 

[BetteTheRed]

Our service was provided for us by the Region, and our Worship Team leader led the service, because all of our ministers were at Council. The service was good, but man, the Powerpoint provided showed us how VERY good our slide-preparers are at their job. It was quite hard to read. Colour choices were poor, text was overlaid on pictures, font was smaller than necessary, etc.

 

[PilgrimsProgress]

At the mission church where I'm a lay preacher I said that I would be in the USA for a few weeks attending a Process Theology Seminar. I added that I was feeling nervous as I hadn't tried to go overseas for 2 years and, now in my seventies , I don't feel I'll be able to travel overseas on my own for much longer.

The next thing I knew was that our minister asked the congregation to pray with him for me......
As many in the congregation have serious mental health issues, addictions and homelessness I was very touched.

It seems that the most generous are those with the least.......

 

[Luce NDs]

At the mission church where I'm a lay preacher I said that I would be in the USA for a few weeks attending a Process Theology Seminar. I added that I was feeling nervous as I hadn't tried to go overseas for 2 years and, now in my seventies , I don't feel I'll be able to travel overseas on my own for much longer.

The next thing I knew was that our minister asked the congregation to pray with him for me......
As many in the congregation have serious mental health issues, addictions and homelessness I was very touched.

It seems that the most generous are those with the least.......

Is that neigh pro phetic ????? It may read different to a host ...

 

[Carolla]

Another trip coming up - that's great @PilgrimsProgress !

@BetteTheRed - re the slides in worship. Our tech team at regional conference is great & has a good sense of humour too. At one point the slides with the hymn words showed up in such tiny font almost nobody could read them. They tried a couple of things on the fly to fix - to no avail. Then after the hymn up popped a new slide "We give up!!" Which got a good laugh from all of us.

On Saturday at the ordination service - we had impromptu punctuation during the scripture reading - in the form of loud thunder! That also gave us pause and chuckle. Nice when we don't take ourselves too seriously to laugh.

 

[Luce NDs]

In deep silence ... bumps ... dark and mysterious goings on!

Some religions do not believe in sensualism of God ... and thus it could erupt anytime in a mindless storm! Be serene watch from the Shadows perspective ... there are various aphoristic expression for this incident ... leads to varied sects!

The church sextant may direct you on where to bury what you didn't wish known ... only human souls can be this brute ... that's power at its greatest according to some leaders ... like monofilm ... they too can break down ...

 

[Nancy]

Worship was at a local church as part of the Regional Council weekend, and included an ordination service. Other local United Churches were closed and members encouraged to attend this joint service. Wow is all I can say. To be in a FULL FULL and JOYFULL church was so good for the soul. The music was amazing, both from the congregation and the gifted choir. Preaching, messages, prayers --- all heartfelt and wonderful. Two weeks ago I led two worship services for numbers that could fit around my kitchen table. Last week was at my home church with its usual congregation of about 65. Next week...worried that the great big church I will attend/lead worship in, will be nearly empty. I always do my best for whatever number of people attend; but to sing and worship with a bigger group is truly uplifting.

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

Today after worship during pot luck, we each took 5 minutes time to tell the others about our family ( childhood and present). There were eight of us. As often, most people grow up with some kind of “ dysfunctional”, but then manage to grow on it. As one said, knowing eachothers personal stories helps seeing someone in a different light and understanding their reactions better.
Worship reading and ministry was about the challenge of changing oneself and the individual spiritual path.

 

[Mendalla]

Next week...worried that the great big church I will attend/lead worship in, will be nearly empty. I always do my best for whatever number of people attend; but to sing and worship with a bigger group is truly uplifting.

This is why the UU fellowship went to a small group format for summer services. They are a small church to start with there just weren't enough people coming to make a full service work in July and August. Also made it easier for the worship committee to cover the minister's summer vacation. There were people who would never preach a sermon who were happy to convene something like this. I led a few and it does allow a more intimate, interactive type of service. No sermon, of course, and fewer hymns but more input and involvement from those in attendance.

 

[Carolla]

Went to the early service today - 'contemporary' music & a band not a choir, but other than that pretty standard liturgy. While I like the band a lot - very talented musicians - I do find the choice of music is 'praise band' stuff - pretty repetitive and salvation/kingdom focused which I don't particularly like. I have heard this from a couple of other people too, so I think I have to figure out to whom to direct my thoughts ...

 

[Mendalla]

pretty repetitive and salvation/kingdom focused which I don't particularly like.

That's kind of my problem with the whole thing and my connection to it goes back a long way. My buddy and a friend of his, who actually worked as my family church's youth director for a while, hosted the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) show on U of Waterloo's radio station for a time. I even went to a Christian rock festival with them. This would have been in the mid-late eighties when I was an undergrad and starting to "drift" spiritually. There was some good music to be sure, but the theology was simplistic, fairly evangelical stuff. Lots of what we now call "praise music", too. I love the idea that you can have Christian music rooted in modern genres like rock and blues rather than century+ old hymnody, but does it all have to be evangelical and salvation-focussed? Is that crowd that big a majority of their audience? In the end, let's just say it didn't do anything to help keep me "in the fold".

 

[revjohn]

The iceberg that ran aground in the harbour three weeks ago is still there. Some of us were watching it prior to the service when it foundered and rolled several times throwing off several chunks in the process.

By the time the service ended we had several boats in the harbour scooping bergy bits.

 

[Mendalla]

The iceberg that ran aground in the harbour three weeks ago is still there. Some of us were watching it prior to the service when it foundered and rolled several times throwing off several chunks in the process.

Man, some places get all the "cool" (in both senses of the word) stuff. I haven't seen a berg since I watched a glacier calve on my Alaska cruise. Another reason to get to The Rock someday.

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

The iceberg that ran aground in the harbour three weeks ago is still there. Some of us were watching it prior to the service when it foundered and rolled several times throwing off several chunks in the process.

By the time the service ended we had several boats in the harbour scooping bergy bits.

Reminds me of when the Wall came down. Another attraction that walks away in bits and pieces.