All Saint's Sunday

This is an altar table I created for All Saint's Sunday several years ago. Just a simple plastic table draped in blue and white fabric. I dropped clear stones at random and we used glass votive jars and white votive candles. The table ran the length of the center aisle. When the names were read, folk could come from any side to light a candle in honor of their beloved. This year I am at a new church with its own traditions. In the sanctuary they will have candles on the altar and light them as the names are read. In the Common Ground service which I work for we will have white roses. I will use the same blue cloth to drape the altar area. As the names are read our children will bring a white rose and lay it on the altar for each name read. There will also be a photo of each person on the screen and our band is working on a simple repeated line to underscore the litany. I am quite fond of All Saint's Sunday. It is a simple, beautiful celebration to me. How wonderful and important it is to take one more time to honor an remember those that have gone before us in this year in which they've gone. We are trav'ling in the footsteps

Of those who've gone before,

And we'll all be reunited,

On a new and sunlit shore

World Communion Sunday Part 2

World Communion Sunday has come and gone for this year. I do believe after a meeting of the ideas of Anna and myself that we came to a wonderful moment in liturgy. It has become our practice to recite the Apostle's Creed as a response to the sermon. This week we concluded a sermon series on the Apostle's Creed. As an alteration to my idea in the earlier post, here is what we did. One of our worship leaders very gracefully instructed the congregation that at the end of each section (Father, Son, Holy Spirit; a division every one was familiar with due to the series) an element of Communion would be brought forth and thus we'd pause. It went off beautifully. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. [A father and daughter from one side of the congregation and a youth from another brought baskets of bread to the Communion Table] I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. [Two folks from either side each brought a cup to the Communion Table] I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. [(At the instruction of Anna to do my liturgical thing, not dance, but gracefully walk) I took a pitcher of juice with a stole draped around the handle down the center aisle, raising and lowering the pitcher as I moved and doing one turn when I reached the front of our horse shoe]

following the Holy Spirit

As many folks have, I've often been in discussions of what happens when a service has been planned out, bulletins printed and then someone wakes up on Sunday morning and just can't shake the notion that something needs to change. Often this occurs due to a catastrophic event and people are understanding. We did it, in a small way, on Sunday just because I couldn't shake the feeling. We changed a song. Didn't do what was printed in the bulletin and nobody thought twice about it. I'd dare to say if we hadn't mentioned the change publicly it wouldn't even have been noticed. And the song we did instead, You are so Good to Me, was perfect! So, I throw up a big AMEN for following the Holy Spirit, you should try it! I bet people aren't as against it as we think they are.