Skip to main content

The Okayest Pastor's Day 1/5/25

It's the first Sunday in 2025 - it's also a Packer's home game so that means people who would normally open the church won't be here. So more work for me on Sunday. So I get to church at 7:45am to unlock the building, turn on lights, set up the PowerPoint, make sure the heat is warming up the place. And since it's Epiphany Sunday that means turning on tree and garland lights too. 

One member's anxiety is untreated and so high that they arrive before 8:30 with their dish for the potluck and to question polity about them being the minister for Friday's funeral because they got ordained in the Universal Life Church. I can't believe the interim told the lay licensed ministers to go there to get "ordained." If I sat on a COM (Committee on Ministry) and that was shared, I'd have serious questions about motives. Again I reminded people that all worship services on church property need to 1) go through the church office to make sure there are no conflicts and 2) go through the senior/settled minister. You don't go around or avoid the minister with these types of things. There's a reason the the minister is the minister.

I introduced folks to Star Words - picking a word that can be used to set your intentions for the year or a focus word for your prayers/reflection time. I think people played along fairly well. We shall see if it helps anyone.

Worship went well. Trained two new deacons so they can help with communion. I thought my sermon was okay as we talked about Epiphany and the church's use of the metaphor of light and darkness - not always used for good. Then it was time to take down the decorations for Advent and Christmas. Thankfully, members from the Board of Worship had come in on Saturday to set out boxes in the general area of things that needed to come down so that helped the process. The potluck afterwards was good. It just makes for a long day for your ministers. 

After a nap, it was time for the community Blue Christmas service that was postponed due to snow in December. A lovely quiet and calming Taizé style worship. It was nice that I could just sit and be and not really have to perform. Following I get dessert and beverages with two other clergy people. Lord why do people feel like they can get away with things during the Christmas holiday? 

Overall a good day of worship and church work but this pastor is tired. Jesus may be born again but the clergy are dead tired again.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2024 Wrap Up

 Happy New Year's Eve! 2024 is almost gone as I type this. And it's been ... a year. To whomever may be reading this know this: I'm glad you made it through 2024. You're you and you're here. That's enough. Whether you met your goal/goals or not, you survived. You're still breathing - even if it's hard to do sometimes. I'm proud of you. Keep going. Even if all you can manage is the next minute. Keep going.  Here is my updates and reflection on 2024. The biggest thing for me has been my move and new ministry in Wisconsin. I said goodbye to two lovely rural Nebraska churches in February and started my new ministry in Wisconsin March 1. It was funny that I was actually attending a UCCB meeting in Ohio when I officially met my new conference minister in person on March 1. God has a sense of humor. This past 9 months has been learning about the systems of the church and the community and trying to find my place. I haven't been perfect in this, but I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Political vs. Partisan in Preaching

For years now, I have heard in preaching and clergy circles about being political in sermons; the good, the bad and those who state that church shouldn’t be political. There are workshops, books, and podcasts talking about politics in the church with a variety of opinions. What do people mean when they make the statement that the church shouldn’t be political? The IRS has the most say about the rules for the separation of church and state/politics. If your church wants to be tax exempt, there are rules: don’t endorse any candidate or party, if you allow one party to use your space, other political parties also must be allowed to use the space, etc. The UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmell, has a webinar on this topic if you’d like to hear a more detailed explanation which can be found on the UCC’s YouTube channel. Churches have gotten “creative” in how to get around this, often partnering with another non-profit group to give support to a particular group. The UCC is proud to claim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sermon based on Revelation 21: 1-6

Revelation 21: 1-6 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home* of God is among mortals. He will dwell* with them; they will be his peoples,* and God himself will be with them;* 4he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ 6Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life." The book of Revelation is a book that has generate...
Post a Comment
Read more