A busy place
10/04/14 05:31
I have been saying that things are busy at the church lately, but busy is a way of life with us. In some sense, it is no busier than other times in the life of our community. I arrived at the church a bit early yesterday to make sure that things were in place for a morning funeral. The day had a special challenge because of construction work at our front door meant that we had to be prepared to direct people to enter the building through the West door. That door is narrow, but wide enough for the casket to be brought through. There was a bit of juggling as the construction vehicles and funeral coach competed for space with parents dropping off their children for preschool. All of us using the same door made for some congestion in the hallway, but people were attentive to one another and all went well. The volunteers who were directing traffic in the parking lot made a big difference and really helped with the flow of people and vehicles.
Prior to the funeral there were several centers of activity as volunteers prepared lunch in the kitchen, the family gathered in the parlor, musicians rehearsed in the choir loft and we completed final preparations in the church office. Down the hall six teachers and 40 children were preparing for the annual preschool open house that will be today and tomorrow. Outside the crew was spreading and compacting gravel and building forms to pour concrete.
There was plenty of activity throughout the day. In the evening I was sitting with members of our youth group who were meeting with a representative of Big Brothers Big Sisters to plan our participation in this year’s Bowl for Kids Sake. I could hear one of our teens practicing the piano in the fellowship hall while the bell choir rehearsed in the choir loft. Earlier another member of our youth group had gotten in a half hour of violin practice and then worked on her homework as she waited for the meeting. Members of our adult choir were preparing for their rehearsal and visiting in the hallway.
For what it is worth, it isn’t nearly as busy as it gets next week. We have Holy Week worship every day, with special services planned to offer a wide variety of different experiences for people of all ages. Those extra services are “add ons.” We go on with life as usual. Fellowship groups meet, choirs rehearse, craft and spiritual practices groups will meet, bible studies gather their participants, and the preschool will continue to serve 40 children in the two-day program and an additional 40 in the three-day class.
Sometimes I find it interesting that some of the people who are active in our church know about activities and events that they participate in but are largely unaware of other events. Every once in a while someone will schedule a meeting or come to the church expecting it to be empty and be surprised at all of the things that are going on. I take a bit of delight in those kinds of surprises. I treasure the activity and the coming and going of people in and out of our church. Sometimes I marvel at all of the things that are going on, and I try to keep track of things. The truth is, however, that there are lots of things that happen at the church in which I do not participate. It isn’t possible for any one individual to be a part of all of the activities.
People who are not involved in churches often have mistaken notions about the job of a pastor. I do sit in my study, read books, do research and write sermons. But most of that is done before 9 am in the morning. I do make visits in the hospital, nursing homes and homes of our members, but those are sandwiched between meetings and appointments. I officiate at weddings and funerals, but it takes more than just showing up and reading from a book of worship. A typical funeral involves three or four hours of meeting with family members, a dozen phone calls to arrange for the music, luncheon, ushers, bulletin, and coordinate with the funeral home and a few more hours to actually write the service. We custom design each service and I always work from a manuscript at funerals. The words are simply too important to leave anything to chance. A wedding requires a similar amount of preparation, though weddings usually give us a bit more warning to plan and space our work. Couples wishing to marry, however, often don’t realize the amount of time they need to invest. When marrying couples are active in the church we know them and it actually takes less time to prepare than when we are asked to officiate with people we hadn’t met before they started to plan their wedding.
At the same time, we work hard to make things look easy. We do a lot of thinking about the flow of people. We try to be prepared for every service of worship. We manage the building with consideration of what zones need to be heated and how best to utilize the energy it takes to keep things going. I am always more relaxed with my worship leadership when I am well prepared.
Managing the activities of the church is always a balancing act. There is a certain amount of physical labor that must be accomplished. We move a lot of furniture. Despite occasional failings of our cleaning staff, they work hard and often have to work unusual hours to keep ahead of all of the activity.
Once in a while it is good to just sit or stand at the intersection of the hallways and listen. God’s spirit is alive and active. The energy of an exciting and constantly changing community is easy to feel.
And when we go to bed tired at the end of a long day it is a good tired. Today is another opportunity for a busy church to serve our community.
Prior to the funeral there were several centers of activity as volunteers prepared lunch in the kitchen, the family gathered in the parlor, musicians rehearsed in the choir loft and we completed final preparations in the church office. Down the hall six teachers and 40 children were preparing for the annual preschool open house that will be today and tomorrow. Outside the crew was spreading and compacting gravel and building forms to pour concrete.
There was plenty of activity throughout the day. In the evening I was sitting with members of our youth group who were meeting with a representative of Big Brothers Big Sisters to plan our participation in this year’s Bowl for Kids Sake. I could hear one of our teens practicing the piano in the fellowship hall while the bell choir rehearsed in the choir loft. Earlier another member of our youth group had gotten in a half hour of violin practice and then worked on her homework as she waited for the meeting. Members of our adult choir were preparing for their rehearsal and visiting in the hallway.
For what it is worth, it isn’t nearly as busy as it gets next week. We have Holy Week worship every day, with special services planned to offer a wide variety of different experiences for people of all ages. Those extra services are “add ons.” We go on with life as usual. Fellowship groups meet, choirs rehearse, craft and spiritual practices groups will meet, bible studies gather their participants, and the preschool will continue to serve 40 children in the two-day program and an additional 40 in the three-day class.
Sometimes I find it interesting that some of the people who are active in our church know about activities and events that they participate in but are largely unaware of other events. Every once in a while someone will schedule a meeting or come to the church expecting it to be empty and be surprised at all of the things that are going on. I take a bit of delight in those kinds of surprises. I treasure the activity and the coming and going of people in and out of our church. Sometimes I marvel at all of the things that are going on, and I try to keep track of things. The truth is, however, that there are lots of things that happen at the church in which I do not participate. It isn’t possible for any one individual to be a part of all of the activities.
People who are not involved in churches often have mistaken notions about the job of a pastor. I do sit in my study, read books, do research and write sermons. But most of that is done before 9 am in the morning. I do make visits in the hospital, nursing homes and homes of our members, but those are sandwiched between meetings and appointments. I officiate at weddings and funerals, but it takes more than just showing up and reading from a book of worship. A typical funeral involves three or four hours of meeting with family members, a dozen phone calls to arrange for the music, luncheon, ushers, bulletin, and coordinate with the funeral home and a few more hours to actually write the service. We custom design each service and I always work from a manuscript at funerals. The words are simply too important to leave anything to chance. A wedding requires a similar amount of preparation, though weddings usually give us a bit more warning to plan and space our work. Couples wishing to marry, however, often don’t realize the amount of time they need to invest. When marrying couples are active in the church we know them and it actually takes less time to prepare than when we are asked to officiate with people we hadn’t met before they started to plan their wedding.
At the same time, we work hard to make things look easy. We do a lot of thinking about the flow of people. We try to be prepared for every service of worship. We manage the building with consideration of what zones need to be heated and how best to utilize the energy it takes to keep things going. I am always more relaxed with my worship leadership when I am well prepared.
Managing the activities of the church is always a balancing act. There is a certain amount of physical labor that must be accomplished. We move a lot of furniture. Despite occasional failings of our cleaning staff, they work hard and often have to work unusual hours to keep ahead of all of the activity.
Once in a while it is good to just sit or stand at the intersection of the hallways and listen. God’s spirit is alive and active. The energy of an exciting and constantly changing community is easy to feel.
And when we go to bed tired at the end of a long day it is a good tired. Today is another opportunity for a busy church to serve our community.