How was church today?

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The "divisions" of what happens where - ie pulpit for preaching & scripture read by the minister; lectern for Bible reading by lay people, or reading of other secular texts, making announcements etc, both possibly used for prayers - but again divided with ministry in the pulpit, lay at the lectern - must be a bit mysterious & perhaps odd for those who don't know the history of the architecture etc. On a recent Sunday our minister scurried down a few steps from the pulpit and across the chancel area to make an announcement at the lectern, then scurried back to the pulpit, although he no further prayers or preaching to deliver. Seemed so odd that he felt he couldn't just continue to speak from the pulpit side, and then retreated again to the pulpit. If I was unchurched (or maybe not, as the though occured to ME!) it would just seem a bit weird.
I'm a minister and that seems a bit weird.
 
The "divisions" of what happens where - ie pulpit for preaching & scripture read by the minister; lectern for Bible reading by lay people, or reading of other secular texts, making announcements etc, both possibly used for prayers - but again divided with ministry in the pulpit, lay at the lectern - must be a bit mysterious & perhaps odd for those who don't know the history of the architecture etc. On a recent Sunday our minister scurried down a few steps from the pulpit and across the chancel area to make an announcement at the lectern, then scurried back to the pulpit, although he no further prayers or preaching to deliver. Seemed so odd that he felt he couldn't just continue to speak from the pulpit side, and then retreated again to the pulpit. If I was unchurched (or maybe not, as the though occured to ME!) it would just seem a bit weird.

IIRC, in my family church the minister and lay reader came in together and sat together by the lectern to start. The minister then made his (the ministers of that church in that era were inevitably men) way to the pulpit at one point and finished from there while the lay reader remained at the lectern. So no backing and forthing, but they did change locale at some point. I think. Memories of that era are getting a bit vague.
 
@revjohn ...

Did you see the observance on the UCC's Observer ... on the matter of Grey Matter and how it matters to mind ... which may not be in-mind atoll? Anti Nestorian campaigns to un nest thoughts ... thus they flew ...
 
Luce NDs said:
@revjohn ...

Did you see the observance on the UCC's Observer ... on the matter of Grey Matter and how it matters to mind

I have not. My subscription expired in the spring and I decided not to renew it until I was back in a Pastoral Relationship again.


Luce NDs said:
Anti Nestorian campaigns to un nest thoughts ... thus they flew ...

How in the world could anyone be Pro-Nestorian? While I do not ascribe to Mary all the bells and whistles that my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters love to I have no argument with her being seen as "Theotokus." No Trinitarian should have problems with that.
 
I have not. My subscription expired in the spring and I decided not to renew it until I was back in a Pastoral Relationship again.




How in the world could anyone be Pro-Nestorian? While I do not ascribe to Mary all the bells and whistles that my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters love to I have no argument with her being seen as "Theotokus." No Trinitarian should have problems with that.
:ROFLMAO:

I love humus in church matter ...
 
But garlicky is close to the PEW at times ...:D .. hold yer breat's ... in honor of Freudian slips ... perhaps Friesian ? When GEO Gaia is on mind that is matter over mind ... a devil of a thing for authorities that don't like thinking public ...

Could vary depending on how tis writ ... literature is like that!
 
First complete service with my new pastoral charge.

More or less my presidency was professional. There was some neglect to inform me of when and how to do things unique to this worship community. Nothing that represented an egregious oversight and I was quick to repent of my ignorance.

What really threw a wrench into the works was realizing, at the very last minute that the Gospel text I prepared to preach on and the Gospel text we read in the liturgy were not the same.

Not so different that I could not recover and I could tell by the way that the shoulders of a predecessor on that pastoral charge were shaking that he has been there once or twice before and was enjoying my fleeting panic.

Still, I'm not a stranger to that particular dance and I was able to recover and integrate some of the study from the text I intended to preach from.

The immediate reviews after the service were uniformly positive. I scored big in the "we heard everything you said" department which suggests that there are more than a few who don't always hear everything. Since it was my first day in this particular pulpit I resisted the urge to draw a straight line comparison between ability to hear and preferred seat in the sanctuary.

Not a disaster but certainly room for improvement.
 
First complete service with my new pastoral charge.

More or less my presidency was professional. There was some neglect to inform me of when and how to do things unique to this worship community. Nothing that represented an egregious oversight and I was quick to repent of my ignorance.

What really threw a wrench into the works was realizing, at the very last minute that the Gospel text I prepared to preach on and the Gospel text we read in the liturgy were not the same.

Not so different that I could not recover and I could tell by the way that the shoulders of a predecessor on that pastoral charge were shaking that he has been there once or twice before and was enjoying my fleeting panic.

Still, I'm not a stranger to that particular dance and I was able to recover and integrate some of the study from the text I intended to preach from.

The immediate reviews after the service were uniformly positive. I scored big in the "we heard everything you said" department which suggests that there are more than a few who don't always hear everything. Since it was my first day in this particular pulpit I resisted the urge to draw a straight line comparison between ability to hear and preferred seat in the sanctuary.

Not a disaster but certainly room for improvement.
Good luck with the new job John.
 
Church was nice today. I led worship at a church that is a different denomination than my own. They have been without a minister for about 6 years. I was happy to hear that they have 3 people interested in preaching for a call at the moment. I delivered a message about anxiety, but I started with a baseball story about a manager from by-gone days: Connie Mack. It really struck a chord with a few people, and it got them really listening. I'm not knowledgeable about sports, but I enjoy sports stories and share them when I can. It will probably be my last time at this church, and I was surprised at how I felt about that: They are good, kind, generous people. I have been lucky to have had a bit of a connection with them.
 
An interesting service today. The sermon was on Evolutionary Spirituality with a conversation sermon between Rev. John and Bruce Sanguin. It seemed like an interesting path to follow moving well beyond the dualism of good and evil, crime and punishment, us and them etc. It is more about a striving to a sort of superconciousness like that attained by Buddha or Jesus. An idea of not looking for an external "Savior" but rather realizing we can be the savior of ourselves and others. I am probably not expressing it very well here, but I look forward to searching and seeing if Bruce has some books I can read to get a better grasp on the concepts. I like a sermon that gets me thinking in ways I may not have though previously. Also, the closing hymn was "Beautiful Gaia" from VU and that is always a fave hymn for me.
 
An interesting service today. The sermon was on Evolutionary Spirituality with a conversation sermon between Rev. John and Bruce Sanguin. It seemed like an interesting path to follow moving well beyond the dualism of good and evil, crime and punishment, us and them etc. It is more about a striving to a sort of superconciousness like that attained by Buddha or Jesus. An idea of not looking for an external "Savior" but rather realizing we can be the savior of ourselves and others. I am probably not expressing it very well here, but I look forward to searching and seeing if Bruce has some books I can read to get a better grasp on the concepts. I like a sermon that gets me thinking in ways I may not have though previously. Also, the closing hymn was "Beautiful Gaia" from VU and that is always a fave hymn for me.

A delightful approach to an "all connected relationship" foreign to the isolated folk ... independence Deiss?
 
I was at my own church yesterday, singing in the choir, and giving hugs to people whom I have missed. Our church was packed...needed to bring in extra chairs! Packed means about 73 people. Three people transferred their memberships to our church, so we celebrated this yesterday, along with communion. Going to my own church helps me feel grounded.
 
You Just Never Know - It sounds like your church really gives people something to think about.

Our sanctuary was beautifully decorated yesterday and the service was centered on Hope. Lots of singing of Advent carols, beginning with Hope is a Star, and including another favourite 'People Look East'. Lots of up and down - I wished they would suggest that people sit for some of them - about half way through the service I sat for some, even though people around me were standing. Good turnout, the sanctuary felt full but not crowded and the usual bunch in the balcony. It seems to me thaat our congregation is growing - or at least holding it's own.
 
Whether to sit or stand should be a personal decision. Hopefully others will accept that without rude comments.

I would have enjoyed being at You Just Never know's church . Instead I went to the city - bought sewing supplies and joined a group of friends for a really delicious supper. It became rather like being in heaven when dessert was Christmas pudding!
 
Whether to sit or stand should be a personal decision. Hopefully others will accept that without rude comments.

In the UU fellowship, when hymns were announced, we usually included some form of invitation to stand with an explicit option to not do so. Not sure of the current wording since I haven't gone in a while.
 
Hi,

Nice Sunday with the folk at Steinbach United. Started with a pot luck breakfast. Then into the morning service. Here are the thoughts I shared on our opportunity to share hope in these days of worry and anxiety:


George
 
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