| The first time I ever preached was in the Unitarian Universalist
church in Colorado Springs. Due to a seasonal drop in attendance, it was
the custom of the church to suspend regular worship services during the
summer months in favor of a variety of lay led programs. Though I was not
a member, I knew the pastor and asked if it would be alright if I addressed
the congregation one Sunday during this period. Well, things are never quite
as easy as that in the way any church operates, but in time I was granted
permission to preach.
I thanked God for this opportunity and I prayed that I might serve
as a worthy instrument. And then I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote. I edited,
and I fussed, and I edited some more.
I was going to keep it real simple: a prayer and a message. Except
for announcements and the obligatory taking up of an offering, that's all there
was to be. I figured the whole service would last about 30 minutes and allow
ample time for fellowship afterwards.
I was told later that my short and simple prayer and sermon alone lasted
45 minutes. I had no idea I had been talking so long -- the time simply
*whizzed* by!
Well, with time I learned to better gauge the time of my sermons. And
I took a lesson from my Roman Catholic friends. I try to keep that message
down to 10 minutes. I've yet to have anyone fall asleep during one of my
sermons.
Peace,
Richard
|
| And then there was the time every public speaker dreads.
Well into the sermon I drew a complete blank. I had announced that
I was about to share two quotes from Woody Allen. I got the first
one off just fine. When it came time to deliver the second one, it
just wouldn't come. I was so confident during my rehearsing that I'd
remember these quotations that I didn't bother to write them out in
my notes. All my 3x5 card said was "Woody Allen quotes." I stared
at it a long time as if it would somehow magically appear.
An emotional eternity passed as I waited for the quote to pop
into my head. Finally, there was nothing to do but confess that I couldn't
remember what the second quotation was, but that if I had remembered
they would have found it equally appropriate and amusing.
Thank God for appreciative and understanding congregations,
that's all I've got to say.
Peace,
Richard
|
| It's Memorial Day weekend. Some folks see it as the first long
weekend of Summer, a time to break out the camping gear, the ol' rod and
tackle, or the backyard grille. Church attendance is usually, and perhaps
understandably, down.
Such was the case yesterday. In addition, our pastor and lay
delegate were away participating in our denomination's district conference.
As Worship Chair, I showed up early to make sure everything was in place
before worship. I'd arranged to carpool with the man who was to give the
sermon. And indeed, we did arrive early, even before the building was
unlocked. There was nothing to do but wait for someone with a key. Well,
as it turned out, the only person who came who might have had a key left
home without it and lived too far away to retrieve it in time.
So, fourteen people, one them a first time visitor, gathered on
the front steps of the church building in God's great outdoor cathedral,
and conducted an abbreviated, and *much* more informal, time of worship.
I was grateful it didn't rain, and though cooler than I personally
like it, I was glad it wasn't any cooler or windier.
As Worship Chair, I felt very uncomfortable about the situation.
The one redeeming statement came from our first time visitor who indicated
that she was very impressed that we would go ahead with worship under the
circumstances, that to her it said a lot about the people of the church,
which, as she said, "is really what the church is all about anyway."
Peace,
Richard
|