This past Sunday we enjoyed one of those occasions that can happen in a small church. We are a small church at best and, because of an illness passing through the community, we were smaller than usual this day.
I had prepared a message and a proper order of worship, but somewhere in our Joys & Concerns & Moments of Grace sharing, my schedule went right out the window.
We got off to a late start (another long story) and then it turned out that my folks had a lot to share -- updates on worries we've been praying about, concerns about our community and the world at large, and things that had brought them joy during the week -- and, my favorite part, those occasions when we had actually noticed God present in our day to day world.
This sharing time is often the heart of our gathering each week, but this one kept going and going. I noticed the time going by, but what was being shared and discussed was important, so I let it go on. And then I began to share a deep joy I'd experienced in my week (one of those noticing God present occasions). I tried to give some brief (I did try for 'brief') context for my sharing, and they asked questions, and I kept sharing until I realized we had used up all our Sharing time as well as our Message and Discussion time and we really needed to move on into Communion and Closing Prayer.
And I wouldn't change a thing about last Sunday.
Our Message time is important. It's a time we learn about scripture and God and ourselves, but every once in a while the Spirit says "this too, is important," and with a small church, we can freely respond to that word. We do have a set liturgy -- not terribly formal, but a set liturgy nonetheless. But we also have the freedom to make changes on the fly -- and, occasionally we do.
This is one of the things (among many) I love about a small church. I spend a lot of time each week planning out a cohesive order of worship that builds to support my message and takes us where I believe we're supposed to go -- this planning ahead is an important part of a pastor's work. But then there are those days when, right in the middle of things, the Spirit says, "Nah, let's go here instead" and those days are a deep, deep joy in my heart.
I had prepared a message and a proper order of worship, but somewhere in our Joys & Concerns & Moments of Grace sharing, my schedule went right out the window.
We got off to a late start (another long story) and then it turned out that my folks had a lot to share -- updates on worries we've been praying about, concerns about our community and the world at large, and things that had brought them joy during the week -- and, my favorite part, those occasions when we had actually noticed God present in our day to day world.
This sharing time is often the heart of our gathering each week, but this one kept going and going. I noticed the time going by, but what was being shared and discussed was important, so I let it go on. And then I began to share a deep joy I'd experienced in my week (one of those noticing God present occasions). I tried to give some brief (I did try for 'brief') context for my sharing, and they asked questions, and I kept sharing until I realized we had used up all our Sharing time as well as our Message and Discussion time and we really needed to move on into Communion and Closing Prayer.
And I wouldn't change a thing about last Sunday.
Our Message time is important. It's a time we learn about scripture and God and ourselves, but every once in a while the Spirit says "this too, is important," and with a small church, we can freely respond to that word. We do have a set liturgy -- not terribly formal, but a set liturgy nonetheless. But we also have the freedom to make changes on the fly -- and, occasionally we do.
This is one of the things (among many) I love about a small church. I spend a lot of time each week planning out a cohesive order of worship that builds to support my message and takes us where I believe we're supposed to go -- this planning ahead is an important part of a pastor's work. But then there are those days when, right in the middle of things, the Spirit says, "Nah, let's go here instead" and those days are a deep, deep joy in my heart.
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