Steps in the right direction...

Potpourri, Opinionated Elders, and (more about) the People as Ministers

 Last month, I wrote about two women who said "Yes" to leading the children's sermons.  I wrote about what a splendid job they did.  I wrote about the risks involved.  I wrote about how it takes more work to not do that "work."  I wrote about the way I didn't know at what point in this church's history that the piece on the bulletin cover describing staff - "Ministers - the members of Northminster" - appeared.

 Since then I did two things.

 First,  I asked Virginia Cowsert and Lala Scales to lead the Children's Sermon on Easter Sunday.  (For those who do not know these two wonderful ladies, they have worked with our Preschool for years.  Mrs. Cowsert is also the first female ordained as an elder in this congregation.)

  They did an amazing job and put much energy into selecting the perfect potpopurri  to tie in to the theme of the sermon.  The sermon focused on Luke's gospel and the way the women - The Original Spice Girls - had bought spices and ointments before sunset on Friday.  They waited, as obedient faithful Jews, on Saturday.  And then on Sunday morning,  they took their spices.  I trust you know how the story ended - they didn't need them.  Virginia and Lala had all of the children smell the potpourri.  They pointed to the Taizé Cross on which was depicted, in iconic form, the crucified Christ.  (They had even requested that the cross remain from the Maundy-Thursday Service.)  They had thought it through.  It was wonderful.  It was also a smart move in that any visitors from the Preschool would immediately know these two women giving the children's sermon about those  women and their spices.  Virginia and Lala were "ministers" that day.

   The second thing I did was go back toSouth Carolina with my son, Will.  We went through the place where I had previously served.  We ate at a familiar haunt - The Summerton Diner.  The Diner is just like Jeanine's except you get a third vegetable, coffee or tea, and ice cream, all for the same price.  We saw the new pews, new carpet and new ceiling of the sanctuary. And then we pressed on to Williamsburg County,  the county seat of Kingstree, and then to our destination - the Black River.

  Will got to reconnect with his two great uncles - "Fess" and Chalmers.  He watched my uncles and my father swap stories.  He heard things he had never heard before.  He heard some things that were politically incorrect.  He watched the care given my aunt when she had moments of forgetfulness.  He ate different kinds of barbecue.  And he heard about church.

  My two uncles are elders in the PCA church in Kingstree.  We naturally talked about church.  My older uncle (real name - George Barr Hammet, Jr.) talked about the way he kept most session meetings to less than an hour.  He told people when they had talked enough. 

  Somehow, we talked about worship and Elders in worship.  He said he helped get rid of "that kind of stuff."  His reasons were simple and clear.  First, the preacher is paid to read the scripture and do the talking.  Secondly, the elders were no good at it.  "You couldn't understand what they were saying and the Word of God needs to be clear, not mumbled."

  He asked,  "What do you do in your church?"  I cut my losses and just said,  "You wouldn't like it."  He pressed me and I told him about Easter Sunday - Elders (plural), a youth (Haley Hirsh),  two women with the Children's Sermon, an Associate Pastor, and then, me.  He said,  "Your right, I wouldn't like it."

  I thought about how limiting small towns can be.  Authentic, genuine, real, unpretentious, but limiting.  I thought about the way we at Northminster have here Elders who love the word of God and read the scripture clearly.  I thought again about the theological implications of the folks not wearing the black robes leading worship.

  I like what we do here.

 Next month,  I will pick up again on this theme of God's gifts being given to the people.  I will tell you about the time a search committee came under stealth to hear me preach and their cover was blown.

   And I also want to thank two members who pushed me.  One was Kathy Black.  She wanted a youth to be visibly participating in every service so that any visitors who had youth could see our youth.  The second was Bob Fleisch.  Bob pushed me to not forget that there had been a time when the  "Elder of the Month"  had assisted in all of the services for that month.  In the same spirit as Kathy, he felt it important to this church that the other presbyters - the elders , the ordained ones who don't wear the black robes - be visible each week.

 I like what we do here.  Tell others.  Love the Word of God.  And don't mumble!