Choirs, worship songs, after service coffee - the all new religion chat thread

[niminypiminy]

A new place for us to share the lovely, silly and annoying things that happen in church life and share our great love of Graham Kendrick.

Not literally! But there are three churches hold weekly services in turn and the congregations go from church to church. So it's a caravan in the sense of a camel train crossing the desert.

On a curates retreat atm, and waking early because the bed was so hard. The upside, though, is that very soon I'll be able to see dawn beginning to break over Ely cathedral.

We have a literal caravan.

It's sadly underused.

Is it very irreverent to imagine a literal church caravan, with an altar at the top and 8 or 9 chairs in front of it, the priest driving it an pulling up at certain places at certain times, like a mobile library?

I don't think that's irreverent; I think it's genius!

Taking church to the people!

It could visit holiday parks, beaches, city centres, could work alongside street pastors and have a parking space at fairs and shows.... Holiday makers, homeless people, universities at exam week and freshers....

Gosh, some of you have huge congregations!

Silence and Oma - that's such a brilliant idea. I love it.

Ours is a teeny tiny affair which we use to serve teas and coffees from, but still I reckon it could work.

On the subject of rotas... it's the rotapocalypse here. Someone has organised another rota in such a way that everything clashes with mine and now I'm back to the drawing board. [sob]

Talked no of rotas, it is five week month this month.

Which means that all rotas will self-destruct, space-time will collapse into itself, and quite possibly there will be no after-service coffee.

Has anybody else been reading Catherine Fox's third Lindchester novel on her blog? If you have did you, like me, cry buckets at the ending? (And if you haven't I can't recommend them highly enough. No 1 is called Acts and Omissions - with a cast of characters centred around the cathedral of the fictional diocese of Lindchester. So sharp, wickedly funny but also moving.)

Btw Tuo I feel your rota pain. I organise the junior church rota which at the moment, unless someone answers my emails, is going to have only me on it until Easter.

sigh On an average Sunday I need 13 people just for my bit of the rota. And I have to make it fit around junior church, welcomers, coffee, choir, and who knows what else...?

And it's a FIVE-SUNDAY MONTH! [wail]

(Over-dramatic? Moi?)

Hi everyone, you all disappeared for while- I had to come looking for you! So a belated Happy New Year!

I am thrilled to not have rota responsibility!

So I've a 'what do you do when' question, if anyone has time to read/answer...

I'm usually full on, lots of responsibilities at church. Worship group, preaching/leading, whatever needs doing. I'm rota'd off because of a family emergency. This is good, because I don't have the head space for preparing services at the moment. Thing is, I really don't feel like going, even when I am here. I don't really feel like going anywhere I don't have to. So work is fine, hanging out with family, nipping to shops etc is fine. Going to church and having to sit still, to talk to people before and after, be asked how I am, how's my dad... It's a bit intimidating really.

So what do you do when you feel like that? Stick to the routine and wrestle through? Stay away? I know people say when you are stressed and out of sorts it's even more important that you go...

Sorry to just pop up out of nowhere asking for advice...

We don't really have rotas. There are sign-up sheets in the vestry for things that need to be done, and people write their names in. There are rotas for the paid musicians and for people to lead worship on the weeks when the minister isn't there, but that's done by consensus at the committee meeting.

We have a cngegation of around 35 though.

pklme For me the answer would be to go bang on time, not early, and leave straight after. If people know about the family situation they will understand and you can always have a quiet word with someone you know well on your way out asking her/him to pass on your apologies if that's necessary. That way you get the service (which would be v impt to me in times of crisis) without the stress. In fact in my church lots of people do that, sometimes or always depending, and no-one bats an eyelid.

niminy tuo its of no help at all to you but I'm glad my rota duties start in a 4 week month
Also there's only one rota, so the potential for clashes is (I think) lower. I can well see that the main hurdle is going to be that no-one will respond to emails though! Actually I've just typed that and I realise that children's church is a separate rota. I bet there are some people on both. There you go, clashes right there coming up. 😖

Edd, that's good advice. I'll remember for next time, I'm usually there very early for the music practice, but I think I'll have to rethink.

For the rota, ours is all on one which means a harder job for you but less to take into account. But we are a small church so it's all easier anyway- only one children's group so only one person rota'd in.

This was part of today's service, and I really liked it, so I'm going to share. It's by Howard Thurman, an African-American theologian, educator, and civil rights leader:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

Broomstick thank you. Lovely.

Pklme if you have to be there early, can you find a cranny to hide in until the service begins? And yes, leave straight afterwards.

Alternatively if you have friends, get them to run interference - to walk with you apparently in earnest conversation as you walk swiftly from church to car or bike or home. People are less likely to pounce if someone else has already pounced.

Also, if you find being public is just interfering with connecting to God, find a service somewhere else, midweek or early am or any time you're free, and slip in there anonymously. Easier to connect without an audience.

Broomstick that is lovely! I've saved it for future use.

pklme you're in my prayers.

Love that broomstick :)

Running interference What a good phrase, never heard that before, also a brilliant idea silence

It's all kicked off here. We did a version of this house blessing at my church, and the vicar suggested we post to social media about it. Which I did and kicked off a furious reaction (from one person only) on FB. And a long thread of comments, which in fact was very positive in the end. But I'm only very recently 'out' as a Xtian to most so it was quite a shock!

We did a blessing for the church yesterday. It was the first time it had been done and it all went very well. I put an explanation on the church notice board in case anyone was curious about the 20 + CMB + 17 on the front of the church.

Good to hear that you are fully 'out' as a Christian Edith and glad to hear that the reactios you got were positive in the end.

A small group of us (some of whom don't actually attend the CofE church in the village but live in the village) want to bless our church as we are presently interregnum and have had a bad few years. Thank you for that.

That's a lovely blessing ceremony. I'll try and remember it.

Thanks for the prayers and advice! I shouldn't have gone- I joined the practice, got tetchy so headed off home, only to be caught at the door by someone lovely and end up in tears. I'll do better next time, with your advice!

Nothing wrong with dissolving into tears with someone lovely, Popcorn. We all need lovely people in our life.

I looked at the st crysostem's blessing too.Thought it was brilliant.
(I've saved it so got confused when I opened your link )

Hi Tiggles welcome :)

Pikme - I also think you need a friend to run interference.
I've got a mug to show off