How was church today?

Welcome to Wondercafe2!

A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!

Register Log in
You just never know said:
Today's sermon was on golf. A funny clip of Robin William's describing the origin of golf was played. I sure miss his humour and his unique way of seeing the world. I only played golf once. I was a teenager and with some pals and apparently we were not supposed to be chipping at the ball on the putting green as we were thrown out. Anyway, nice music, got to hear the amazing pipe organ which is seldom played and it was great with Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee, which was a hymn chosen by the minister's 6 year old daughter. Beethoven played on a pipe organ is like heaven for me. Also, had a nice bike ride after worship and saw some old things with new eyes. And did not go anywhere near any golf courses. :)
Click to expand...
Did someone say...

Golf???
NSFW if you ken?
 
My first day of not leading a seervice this summer. Planned to go to the little church near home, the one I used to attend regularly, but let time get away for me and realized too late that they start there services at 10:00 am. Still had time to make it to the downtown church for 10:30. My home church is joining forces with the other big downtown UCC for the summeer (they call their joint services Downtown United). July is at the other church (August will be at ours). At the joint services a person might run into any combination of our four ministers.
Today it happened to be our two ministers - one opening the service until after the children's time, the other doing the message and closing. Lay people read the scripturee.
Looked around after finding a pew - no ushers in this church. It seemed i recognized most of the congregation - a good percentage from our church. Music was OK, small choir, words to hymns on screen at front. I'm not sure how I feel about this - generally I like havign a book with music; at home church I rest my book on the back of the pew in front of me but here the backs of the pews are too low and I can't hold a book steady without supporting it. Message - I think I detected some N. R. Wright theology in the message and wondered if the minister is reading anything by him this summer.
The highlight for me was seeing so many people I know but hadn't seen for over a month. Immediately after the service I rushed over to a couple and check-in with them. They are LGBT but nevertheless attended. (Some of our LGBT will not attend seervices at this particular UCC because of the well-deserved rep for not welcoming them - thankfully a new minister at this church is changing that but change takes a long time and hurts take a long time to heal.)
We were soon joined by another couple. She has Parkinsons and went through a hard time this past winter/spring but is gradually recovering (from symptoms; you don't recover from Parkinsons) and is able to get around quite well for now. Her husband is in the early stages of Alzimers but you would nevere know it - as handsome and pleasant as ever.
Good to see theme both.
Good to be paart of a community and to worship together on a clear, bright, cool and pleasant Sunday morning.
 
You just never know said:
Today's sermon was on golf. A funny clip of Robin William's describing the origin of golf was played. I sure miss his humour and his unique way of seeing the world. I only played golf once. I was a teenager and with some pals and apparently we were not supposed to be chipping at the ball on the putting green as we were thrown out. Anyway, nice music, got to hear the amazing pipe organ which is seldom played and it was great with Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee, which was a hymn chosen by the minister's 6 year old daughter. Beethoven played on a pipe organ is like heaven for me. Also, had a nice bike ride after worship and saw some old things with new eyes. And did not go anywhere near any golf courses. :)
Click to expand...

Pipe organs ... a panoply of metaphors without distinction of prejudicial ... as it muses about IHK-y like knocking the corners of those with sharp edges ... and perhaps don't know it ... they've never escaped themselves towards the alternate ... or other if you see that as a Gae Stranger ... lily. or travelling with Lilith? You can almost catch the lilt ... it runneth ...
 
Kimmio said:
I apologize, jae. It was wrong of me to assume that everyone would take that with a sense of humour, especially a Baptist... Oops did it again! ;)

Seriously...ignore that too.
Click to expand...

Baptists are efficient (not perfect) at such things and they too ... don't know IDE ... tis primal or aboriginal Gae'L ... out there ...
 
Jae said:
Yes please Kimmio, that would be great. I'm very interested in church planting. :)
Click to expand...

Tis Baptist ... like Dunne Kahn! However often widely blocked as outside concerns are limited by informational veils ... Wahl'd out? And they don't know how the esteem is restricted by hubris ... and it Ayes as a sic mon ... in old tongues that's one who is a yes-man to leaders of politic ... no-men are dark and out ... similar to gnomon ... forerunners of dark rejected shadowy types ... that's word in print ... a formal script? Dipeth-not to diplomacy ... that trumps it ...
 
You just never know said:
You are absolutely correct Jae it is the abuse that is wrong. As I mentioned in my post we have folks who have escaped from abuse in Baptist and Catholic churches. The problem is not accepting others as they have been created which is not limited to Baptists or Catholics, it occurs inside and outside the church. And the sense I have from the folks in our congregation is that they indeed did escape from an abusive church situation. And you are also correct there is a wide spectrum of congregations in the United Church and some are Affirming and some are not. There is one United Church in Calgary that is quite conservative and you never see a rainbow flag in the sanctuary when you worship there.
Click to expand...

In reality creation made abuse was scattered in the beginning ... some gather around it ... as inhumanity holds a certain curiosity with some peoples ... some question it .. some don't thus de track Zions in the san ... appearing as metaphors and all ah gory ... railroad to a state of mine 'd?
 
Inannawhimsey said:
And what I have got from the Baptist tradition is that it is pretty loose?

Each individual Baptist is "allowed" to interpret the Bible as they see fit and are not credal and that every person is responsible for themselves and their actions.

That to me is quite an open and varied tradition*?

(That even given the problems of you not even getting Baptists of some sort on board here when you were given the opportunity to have their own forum...)


So that anytime someone disses a Baptist...it can never speak for the whole diverse congregation. A Westboro isn't a Southern Baptist isn't a...

Now aboot those scurrilious Seventh Day Adventists...mua ha ha

*thats why even Westboro are Baptists.
Click to expand...

Dunne Ka'd again ...
 
Back to the church where I started summer pulpit supply on July 2nd. Small turn-out but very responsive. I agree with the minister up-thread who talked about energy (or lack thereof) between the minister and the congregation. Today it was there - the rooom seemed filled with positive energy. People responded to the choir by singing enthusiastically. And to me by actively listening, nodding, laughing in the right places.

I spoke about 'stories', about remembering our stories by telling andd retelling them, and about what we can learn from stories. I told the story of Jacob (lectionary reading for the day from Genesis), and how despite his unsavory character - a schemer, liar and cheat - I compared him to the prodigal son, and to some rebellious teens we might know - God made him the father of a great people - the 12 tribes of Israel.

There is a graveyard adjacent to this church. Last week a biker was shot in this province, possibly related to gangs and/or dope. Yesterday he was buried beside his mother's grave and the church parking lot was filled with motorcycles. Apparently the church got some calls 'Why is this biker being buried in 'our' graveyard?' Although I didn't address this directly - I had already prepared a draft of my message - I hope that some people were able to see a connection to the story of the wayward Jacob being accepted by God.
 
Today's message was by Emily Schaming and the topic was road trips. Roads taken and not taken or the wrong road taken and it turns out different than expected, but still worthwhile. Glad I was there today. And went on my own road trip on my bike after church and found a bike path I had not been on before. It ended up a good climb, but was fun going down the other side! :) Also, at worship today a solo that combined Over the Rainbow and It's a Wonderful World. Also, the choir did U2's Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Lot's to think on this week.
 
You just never know....I like how you comment on so many different aspects of the service, including your bike rides afterwards. I always think that it might not be the sermon that gives me something during a service: it could be a song, or a word from a friend, or some special announcement....or even a bike ride afterwards!
 
You just never know said:
Also, the choir did U2's Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
Click to expand...

There's a great clip on Youtube of U2 doing this on one of the talk shows (Kimmel??). They had a choir seeded in the audience to do a "flash mob" style performance. And damned if the band doesn't sound as good today as when that song came out 30 years ago (yes, my favorite U2 album turned 30 this year).

That said, I'd love to give you church a whirl. Seems very UU in approach (not that I've ever heard U2 sung in a UU service, but I could see it happening).
 
Mendalla said:
There's a great clip on Youtube of U2 doing this on one of the talk shows (Kimmel??). They had a choir seeded in the audience to do a "flash mob" style performance. And damned if the band doesn't sound as good today as when that song came out 30 years ago (yes, my favorite U2 album turned 30 this year).

That said, I'd love to give you church a whirl. Seems very UU in approach (not that I've ever heard U2 sung in a UU service, but I could see it happening).
Click to expand...
Yes, Rattle and Hum was a great album. 30 years though, wow I must be getting old. Will have to look on youtube sometime sounds like a fun way to do the song. :)
 
Auld is an amazing thing with lauds and laurels ... it you don't mind the thorns from the youth about what we really didn't experience ... laudanum will remove any thoughts you'd rather not accept ...
 
Church last Sunday was the beginning of summer pulpit supply. I know all three of them, and they are all fine people.

HOWEVER, I cannot do a second week of the Rev C___, an eternal favourite of 'ours'. Nice guy, used to be the minister of the (rather more conservative) church across the street, long retired, still chaplain of LTC facility across the street. But God, for him, is completely Lord, King, He and Him. Every single hymn he picked was full of it, his scripture passage as well. Now, if a minister makes even a little effort at gender balance, I'm good with it. ("She Comes Sailing on the Wind" will cover an entire service of He, Him, Lord, King for me), but when there's NO effort, and it's obvious that the issue isn't even on their radar, well, I'll skip next week.
 
ummm,@ BetteThe Red, seeler was taken to task for saying she would walk out of that

kind of service(on another thread). Did you consider walking out?
 
Had a retired lawyer comment on dressing a minister down for raising a bigot up as a hero!

She sat through the whole insane service to see how far the bigot would go ... despicable language involved? Potentially possible ...
 
BetteTheRed said:
I cannot do a second week of the Rev C___, an eternal favourite of 'ours'. Nice guy, used to be the minister of the (rather more conservative) church across the street, long retired, still chaplain of LTC facility across the street.
Click to expand...


We have a Lay Licensed Worship Leader who is also "beloved" by the congregation whose services I prefer to skip.
 
BetteTheRed said:
Church last Sunday was the beginning of summer pulpit supply. I know all three of them, and they are all fine people.

HOWEVER, I cannot do a second week of the Rev C___, an eternal favourite of 'ours'. Nice guy, used to be the minister of the (rather more conservative) church across the street, long retired, still chaplain of LTC facility across the street. But God, for him, is completely Lord, King, He and Him. Every single hymn he picked was full of it, his scripture passage as well. Now, if a minister makes even a little effort at gender balance, I'm good with it. ("She Comes Sailing on the Wind" will cover an entire service of He, Him, Lord, King for me), but when there's NO effort, and it's obvious that the issue isn't even on their radar, well, I'll skip next week.
Click to expand...

I actually prefer it when religious leaders speak of God using words such as "Lord, King, He and Him." I suppose that's because those words are used in the Bible, and in traditional hymnody.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top