Pastor Lorah took me to a Pastor's meeting at the UMC in Huron on Tuesday. It was very interesting to meet with several different Pastors and talk Scripture and the Pastoral life. I spent time with Pastor Lorah working on the service for Sunday in Redfield. She gave me several wonderful resources - not the least of which is a lovely book published every year called "The Minister's Annual Manual." This darling little book has complete worship services for every Sunday that year! It's interdenominational too with Hymn references, call to worship verses, and even a sermon! I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It is bound to be stressful to have to produce a sermon and full worship service every week - it just makes sense that such a book would be created to aid in that process. Wonderful resource!
When I decided on Psalm 139 for the sermon, Pastor Lorah handed me a typed original of her father's 1971 sermon on the same Psalm! It was an honor to quote Rev. Houser in my sermon. He wrote a great one and it was good to be able to read his thoughts on this beautiful hymn.
Pastor Lorah also asked me to bring a bit of creativity into their sacred space design. I was glad to be able to do a little art on a small table that sits at the entrance of the sanctuary. They were celebrating a baptism on Sunday, so I created a little river scene and hung a small butterfly quilt on the wall above it. It was a delight to create and Pastor Lorah says she's going to leave it up for a while.
In Redfield, Rev. Tim worked with me to put the service together for Sunday. The Redfield church is gorgeous, with a balcony and huge organ pipes. That puppy really helps you sing Holy Holy Holy!!! The service on Sunday went very well. The congregation is a wonderful mix of all generations and I had about 8 kids for the Children's Message (my 2nd ever!). When I stood up to give my sermon, I turned on my body mic and it put out a piercing scream! I shut it off, looked at the congregation, and said: "Thank you very much" and sat down. After the service, one of the folks congratulated me on my impression of Elvis.
They have a screen behind and above the altar and it fits beautifully there. The whole worship is projected onto the screen so folks can sing the hymns and pray the prayers without looking down. I used three images during my sermon and it worked very well.
Overall a great visit. Thank you to Pastor Lorah, Rev. Tim and Donann.
It was great to have you at Tulare United Church and I wish you could have been here longer - next time we won't share the week! Thank you for creating the sacred space about baptism. It was there for three weeks and there were many positive comments about the imagery. We now have some metal doves for next time. Peace, Pastor Lorah Houser Jankord
ReplyDeletePastor Lorah: I am so pleased to hear the sacred space design was a hit. It was a pleasure creating it and working with you in Tulare. The time in Tulare was very valuable to me and deeply appreciated. I wish you and your congregation all the very best. Blessings from Berkeley, Michael
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