surprises
Wow, it has been a while. It was my plan to blog last Sunday about my experiences, so I guess I will go about that a week late.
It was an interesting service last Sunday because we had a baptism of a neighbor baby that I wrote about a few weeks ago. I had a great conversation with the mother the week before and I do hope that I impressed on her the importance of hearing our baptismal promises in church, and that we don't know we are baptized unless we are told. Well...anyways...
She called two days before the baptism and said that her paternal grandfather was a pastor and that his feelings were hurt that he wasn't participating in the baptism at all. She asked me to call him and talk to him about whether I would let him help. She told me he was an ELCA pastor. So I took a deep breath and called him, thinking unity and the shared ministry we have, plus I am sure it is great to baptize your grandchildren. I heard back from him later, actually, and we agreed that he would do the actual baptism and I would do the rest.
When time came in the service to introduce him I stated who he was and that he was a retired ELCA pastor, which he quickly corrected me saying "no, I am a LCMS pastor". I wondered if I was in trouble, but took a deep breath and spoke mantras of ecumenism and hope. AND the baptism went great and he and his family came to the table and showed their interest in sharing in the communion we had that day. I was overjoyed in the way things went and it reminds me to hold off on my opinions and my categorizing that I may too quickly do.
What I have learned this Sunday is that Palm Sunday may be the most populated service of the year, for whatever reason. There wasn't a seat in the house and I was really taken by surprise. I was ramping up for Easter, but I will ramp up for Palm Sunday next year as well.
Yeah, I suppose it is the time of year to look for surprises. I will change my perspective once again. Paz
posted by Chad K @ 4/09/2006 10:29:00 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
How great to hear about the packed house for Palm Sunday and the fabulous baptismal experience with another generation! Such blessings!
Blessings on you this week as you venture on to Easter.
palm sunday is, for me, an enigma. it is a party - but it isn't. it is triumph - but it isn't. it is a packed church - but it isn't. it's almost like a trial run for easter sunday. why is it that we get so excited about the palms and the procession with the kids but not so excited about the resurrection itself?
mz has an interesting tradition started by my predecessor; they switch from palm to passion halfway through the service. we have the happy buzz of palms an choir processing, etc. and then we switch to red paraments and read the passion story. we end with communion, so it's actually a nice transition to make. plus, no sermon, so that's great! we just read the story and let mark preach for himself.
i, too, found there were a lot more people here than i expected there to be; good to know! glad to hear things are going well, and that you're smiling at all the unexpected surprises. god's blessings as you make your way through the next few days.
ah, running into the "other side" unexpectedly. i am constantly amazed to run into folks here who assume i am LCMS because my churches name is what it is. then they find out i am married to a pastor and it is an uncomfortable silence until we figure out that we are all actual human beings.
glad you were gracious to your guest and that your graciousness was returned in his decision to share the table with his family and with you. that is a big step for many of those folks. but i have a feeling he appreciated the kindness and the fact that his family was in a church, any church, and that the promises were being spoken.
WELS, LCMS, ELCA...our Christ is dying, can we get over it for a week?
Thanks all for your comments. I look forward to reading them. Paz
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