What I Miss the Most

It has been a month since I checked in.  As I recover from surgery to "fix" my back, I have been able to do some study and some work.  Worship planning is moving along in fits and starts.  Just when I think I have it set there are changes, new ideas and new topics that need to be addressed.  There are new approaches to old subjects as well.

But while all of this planning for church--we will be pretty much virtual in most respects this fall--has lifted up some exciting new possibilities, I am also now able to be aware of some of the things we lost at least for now.  There is something to the "old way" we did church in these parts.  We are a smallish congregation.  We are a casual and familiar people, given to friendly chatter and informal gathering.  Traditionally our approach to worship reflects that.  So does the sacred time when we gather in person well before "official" worship begins. 

Now things are different.  Way back in January--and for over a decade-and-a-half before--my Sundays began in pretty much the same way.  I arrived around 7 or 7:30, read through my sermon, and checked the Order of Service for rhythm and flow. Then I would sit behind the pulpit, experience the silence of the place, and silently pray for a holy and restorative sabbath.  I believe that God lives in the world, not in the sanctuary of the church.  However, the sanctuary is a gathering place for the community of God and  I still value my time in it.

Then--around 8 or 8:30 people would start trickling in.  Our Intern/Assistant/Associate (the title keeps changing with the individual) arrives and we go through old and new business, figure out who we need to talk to and about what, then we go over the service again. The choir, the deacons, the money-and-building people, the Music Director, coffee hour hosts and a few others who can't stay away until kickoff swing by as well.  We catch up with each other and maybe do some light business (we have a "no business talk during coffee" rule that I occasionally forget).  Then we are usually running late for the start and we rush to our places. 

Then worship happens in all its human and Divine glory.  During worship--even though most of us sit stock still as is our individual custom--we feel each other's presence.  From my perch I can see everyone, but everyone knows who is there and often how they are feeling.  We have looked around.  We have checked in. 

Sometimes--like on Pageant Sunday--it feels like we all are there to rehearse and plan the worship beforehand...then we just do it again.  Those are the best times.

During the Postlude it is off to coffee.  Some few rush out to various activities shouting their apologies as they hustle past me and through the door.  Others stay...and stay...and stay.  There is just so much we (or at least some of us) want to communicate to each other!  Families bring two cars so the more verbose can talk until lunch.  Then, when the last word is said I and the Intern/Assistant/Associate and the Music Director take a moment to collect ourselves, close the place up, and look forward to the next Sunday when we will be together with everyone again.

I guess what I miss the most isn't the structured part of worship, but all that used to happen around it.  Structured worship we can still do.  Thanks to judicious editing there are times when our recorded services are so much more organized and effective.  Still, the people are not with us in the same way. "Virtual Coffee Hour" fills some of the requirements but there isn't the old flow and the constant distraction of other small, unplanned groups parallel chatting in the parlor and the sanctuary. 

I miss the chaos and energy. I miss the snacks and the bored kids.  I miss the party even a low Sunday can bring.  I miss hanging out with my friends, people who have raised children together; who have gone through great victories and heartbreaking tragedies, marking their time with each other.

Anyway that is part of what I am thinking about these days as I get ready for a continuance of the strangest year ever.  We are working on some in-person things, though.  Maybe we can gather in people's back yards or by the river.  Maybe we don't have to give up hikes and Pub Theology. Is it still "Pub Theology" if there is no Pub?  BYOB(everage) and find out.  Yeah these are small groups and the chaos is a different one, if still holy. 

We will be fine but, man, I cannot wait to get back...whenever that may be.

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