Check in!
Did you survive!?
Are you surviving!?
What’s going on? What did you do this morning?
We had a Pajama Service! I didn’t wear pjs but I wore comfortable pants, boots and a cardigan. That’s as “pajama-ish” as I’m ever going to feel it’s appropriate to be when I’m leading worship.
Oh thank you for checking in and asking..a one, two whammy or in my case 7 services in 3 days. One thing I discovered this year is NEXT year I must take better care of my voice. In the middle of my midnight mass sermon (service #3) my voice dissolved into choking and coughing never to fully recover. A kind choir member threw a lozenge at me another nipped out for water but added to the general chaos by bringing it in a brandy snifter(don’t ask why we have one of those in the church cupboard in the first place-I’ve no idea) Aah well – lessons learned- Hydrate. I think I will take some voice lessons to strengthen my voice too!
Praying your new year is fulfilling and joyful – and many thanks for your ministry to us all.
[How lovely, Christine, thank you!! And yes, voice lessons are a great idea. And very intentionally hydrating and resting the voice at this season for those of you doing so many consecutive services!Thanks for checking in. – PB]
I’m SOOOO grateful to have had a lovely former intern from my church (before my time) ask if she might take part in services. I then invited 2 of our cute teens and our soon-to-be retired associate to each reflect on part of the nativity story. They wrote wonderful things. And it truly took the burden off the Homily Must Be Fabulous Or Christmas Won’t Come bu!!sh!t we tax ourselves with each year. Each service was remarkably different, especially the second one, in which a member of the choir passed out, and the EMTs came and carted her off. (She’s fine, and we knew that by the time she left, but there were some very terrified minutes waiting.) And then the third service, which was blessedly quiet and… DONE.
Having done 3 Christmas Eve services at 4:00, 5:30 and 8:00 – on Christmas Day, I generally need to be taken to the airport in a wheelbarrow, which my husband does with good humor. I’m already thinking about who I will ask to do the Christmas Day service next year. Ain’t gonna be me. And I ain’t giving in to the curmudgeonly sorts who say that “No one is going to come to that service anyway.” There are people who need church so much that day – especially Christmas Day, especially if they don’t have some place to go. And still, I know my own limits, and am going to ask someone else to do it.
On December 27, our service was “faith & feminism.” We had four people share their experiences of how their faith & feminism inform/challenge/inspire each other. I was one of those reflections. It was a wonderful service, the reflections were so different and yet you could also hear common themes running throughout. This fall, I served two congregations, and I had already done this service at my other church – so my personal reflection was already written (praises!).
Usually I take the Sunday after Christmas off, but didn’t this year bc of the Two Church Caper. We had quite a few people visiting us from out of town, including UUs from other places who brought their LA/Pasadena-based adult children with them. So I’m re-thinking that it’s an automatic Sunday off.
Thank you for checking in!