Quick Note

Just a quick note. Big day tomorrow.

Today was Dawn and Gord's wedding at COTM--my first service in the church. Things seemed to go well, and people were especially impressed/pleased with the sermon. I think it's auspicious that my first service at the new church was a wedding. Funny that the more time I spend there the longer the list of things that needs to be addressed becomes. The AC units, for example, were dipping water like crazy onto the wall-mounted speakers and the floors and such. So between the wedding and the reception I climbed a ladder with Dave B.'s help and put a trash bag over the speaker to prevent more damage. Obviously, we'll have to have the AC people in ASAP to fix the problem.

I also managed to spill a little of the communion wine on the corporal and altar cloth. Thankfully, I had my hand on the base of the chalice (thanks to Harold's training) and that prevented a bigger spill. I wonder in general, though, if we should switch to white wine (less wear and tear on the linens to get out). It also tastes like "real" wine rather than this sweet stuff that has become fashionable in Anglican/Episcopal circles.

I'm trying not to make any more changes than I absolutely have to in the normal Sunday routine in the next few weeks, so the wine thing can wait, obviously. But I'm a little more bothered by the fact that they commonly put consecrated elements (bread and wine) in a simple cupboard or out on the credence table overnight or for days at a time. Interesting that it combines two different ideas about the Eucharist. On the one hand this practice seems to say that these elements retain their holiness after the service is over and ought to be put aside, marked, and reused. But they aren't giving the normal reverence given when working under that assumption. So at the very least I'm going to introduce a tabernacle/ambry in the sacristy to reserve the elements in the traditional way. I think the Diocese has a warehouse full of old church furnishings, and I can probably find an appropriate tabernacle for free. Otherwise, I think I could probably buy a suitable box here or there and repurpose it.

Yeah, I know, this sensitivity makes me seem high church--but actually on the spectrum of such things I would say this is more middle of the ground than high, per se. It would be interesting to do a survey of churches in the diocese to see what they do in this regard, but in the Diocese of CT I saw/visited MANY churches and rarely saw one without an ambry of some sort.

Anyway, it's another item on the list.

I'm very excited about tomorrow. I've got lots of ideas for the sermon and will have to pair it down the morning. As I was driving back from Oshawa around sunset I was listening to a particularly beautiful and dreamy piece by Tori Amos and thinking about my sermon and watching the sunset and just thought how clearly everything seems to be aligning in my life at this moment. I imagined myself in front of the congregation preaching passionately about our future together. I saw myself using some of my favorite stories and parables to convey what's important to me and what I have in mind. Perhaps I'll start with a paraphrase of the Flat Land story? It's a great way to talk about the work the Spirit in community.

-t