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Stories from Ministry - Things You Can't Make Up Pt. 2

The following story is true. Names have been changed to protect individuals.

For a Maundy Thursday service, I decided to move worship to the fellowship hall so we could have a meal during worship. As part of the service, we read scripture to move us through the events of the night as recorded in the Gospels. There were 12 readings throughout the service/meal so I had 12 candles lit on the table. As different readings were completed, someone was asked to extinguish a candle close to them. Because this was a new format for the service, the bulletins were printed differently. We started the service and get to the opening prayer. As I'm mid prayer, one congregant starts yelling the name of  another.

I keep praying because I have no idea what's going on. I'm looking at people trying to figure out what's happening. This congregant never yells and definitely wouldn't be yelling at this person. Finally my congregant realizes we need more direction then him just yelling a name and he yells the person's name and "FIRE!!!" We all look up and realize that the other person had bowed their head and leaned forward on the table. They kept their bulletin in their hands so when they leaned forward, the bulletin was put in a candle. The bulletin was half burnt up and quickly approaching the member's hands. 

I ran over with a cup of grape juice and put the bulletin in the cup to extinguish the fire. We all started to laugh and laugh. To this day, whenever these two members get together the one still asks "why are you yelling at me?" and the other responds with "don't burn down the church."

Moral of the story: when you change worship and the bulletin don't add more fire to the tables.

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