Reformation Sunday
by Scott Dalen
Last Sunday was, of course Reformation Sunday. One would think that as Lutherans, we would get pretty excited about this special day in the church year. In the very least, we would expect to know what it is that we are celebrating.
A bit of background. Since moving into our current church facility a little over four years ago, I've somehow gotten the job of going up a rickety extension ladder to change a colored drape that hangs about 20 feet off the floor from a cross in the middle of the narthex. The drape matches the color currently featured in the church season, so you can imagine how often I'm up and down the ladder. Actually about 4 weeks in a row at the moment, but that's neither here nor there.
Mid way through last week I made one of my treks up the ladder to switch the drape from green, which it has been for months, to red in celebration of Reformation Sunday. I knew it was red and I knew it was Reformation Sunday. That being said, Sunday morning, early, I sat down to prep the prayers of the church, part of the worship service that I was doing. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that we were celebrating Pentecost Sunday. So I wrote the prayers, highlighting the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples and the changes that we go through when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. All in all, I was pretty pleased.
Fast forward an hour or so and I was sitting in the front pew. My partner pastor stood up to do the welcome portion of the service and he discussed Reformation Sunday, when we remember the reformers that came before us and the contributions that they gave us.
PANIC!!!
Luckily, prayers of the church are way towards the end. So I reached over in the pew, grabbed a pencil, and quickly rewrote the prayers to be a little more applicable.
You'd think that would be the end of my troubles...but of course it wasn't. We also celebrated Confirmation at our second service, which I helped with. Things went pretty smoothly, with one exception. One of the last kids that I gave the confirmation blessing too had a little hiccup, or more so I had the hiccup. Instead of just beginning the blessing and inserting her name in the blessing, I began by saying her name. Then I had a mental argument with myself.
Here's the inner monologue.
"You messed up. You weren't supposed to read her name yet. Idiot. Okay, you can salvage this. Make a joke. People like jokes and they'll laugh. Wait a second. This is an important occasion for this student. I shouldn't be joking right now. Just ignore it...yah, that's good. That's what I'll do. Just ignore it. Maybe no one noticed."
And so I just went on and gave the blessing.
In the very least, the staff got a kick out of it this morning at our weekly staff meeting when I finally did make the joke at my own expense.
Better late than never I guess.
A bit of background. Since moving into our current church facility a little over four years ago, I've somehow gotten the job of going up a rickety extension ladder to change a colored drape that hangs about 20 feet off the floor from a cross in the middle of the narthex. The drape matches the color currently featured in the church season, so you can imagine how often I'm up and down the ladder. Actually about 4 weeks in a row at the moment, but that's neither here nor there.
Mid way through last week I made one of my treks up the ladder to switch the drape from green, which it has been for months, to red in celebration of Reformation Sunday. I knew it was red and I knew it was Reformation Sunday. That being said, Sunday morning, early, I sat down to prep the prayers of the church, part of the worship service that I was doing. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that we were celebrating Pentecost Sunday. So I wrote the prayers, highlighting the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples and the changes that we go through when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. All in all, I was pretty pleased.
Fast forward an hour or so and I was sitting in the front pew. My partner pastor stood up to do the welcome portion of the service and he discussed Reformation Sunday, when we remember the reformers that came before us and the contributions that they gave us.
PANIC!!!
Luckily, prayers of the church are way towards the end. So I reached over in the pew, grabbed a pencil, and quickly rewrote the prayers to be a little more applicable.
You'd think that would be the end of my troubles...but of course it wasn't. We also celebrated Confirmation at our second service, which I helped with. Things went pretty smoothly, with one exception. One of the last kids that I gave the confirmation blessing too had a little hiccup, or more so I had the hiccup. Instead of just beginning the blessing and inserting her name in the blessing, I began by saying her name. Then I had a mental argument with myself.
Here's the inner monologue.
"You messed up. You weren't supposed to read her name yet. Idiot. Okay, you can salvage this. Make a joke. People like jokes and they'll laugh. Wait a second. This is an important occasion for this student. I shouldn't be joking right now. Just ignore it...yah, that's good. That's what I'll do. Just ignore it. Maybe no one noticed."
And so I just went on and gave the blessing.
In the very least, the staff got a kick out of it this morning at our weekly staff meeting when I finally did make the joke at my own expense.
Better late than never I guess.
posted by Scott Dalen at 12:53 PM
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