Thanksgiving Worship

By -
Wednesday night we tried something different for the Thanksgiving Eve Worship--we incorporated Students in each part. Students played in the band, read a litany and shared the reflection on Psalm 100. They also served communion alongside pastors. So how was it?

I think the students felt honored. 
'We are the whole message?' 
'We get to serve communion?'

Spencer and Molly and intern Rachel did a great job reflecting on Psalm 100 ... personal, funny, deep. The congregation clapped after each meditation, not as a performance, but I think out of gratitude. Junior higher Grace and intern Jessica read the litany of thanks. Stew led us in a reading of Psalm 100.

'Best service.' 
'Students have so much to teach us.'
'Inspiring.'


Jamie shared his experience of asking junior highers, "What celebrity would you swap for a family member?" None of them answered the question, saying, "I don't want to lose anyone in my family, but I'd like to add people to my family." Junior highers, he said, like their families and want others to join them. So, he invited us to be family by sharing our gratitude with each other, paying special attention to those outside our generation. We did, and there was energy in the sanctuary as people grouped together in circles of 3 and 4. 

The choir sang with Brendan on the Revelation Song. Lisa sang a beautiful solo called Gratitude. Drums, guitar, choir, litanies, apostles creed... it was all there in an hour of praise and thanks. 

When we worship all together we learn something we would never have learned otherwise.  I'm thankful for that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cappadocia

By -
Image
Amy and I have traveled to Turkey twice before, but this is our first time leading a group into Cappadocia.  What an amazing way to start our 14 day pilgrimage on the footsteps of Paul. It feels like we're in a different world. The landscape is more like the moon or a scene in Star Wars.  Hittites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks all passed through and conquered. First century believers returned here after Pentecost and Peter wrote his first letter to encourage them in their persecution and suffering. In the fourth century, Simon devoted 42 years of his life in isolation on top of a fairy castle, seeking time alone with God. People brought him food and were drawn to his way of life and stayed. The soft tufa volcanic stone allowed for monks and whole communities to create monasteries and homes hidden inside whole mountains.  We visited a handful of those 365 churches (one for every day of the year) that once existed in the Goreme and Zelve valleys.  It strikes
Read more

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-seven and Thirty-eight: We made it!

By -
Image
A Salceda to Santiago de Compostela We decided to walk 22km to the outskirts of Santiago and walk the last few kilometers in the morning. Neither of us could sleep, so we got up, packed our mochilas for the last time and walked to the old city at 5am. It was dark and rather than being joined by other pilgrims, we passed a few late night partiers and a woman walking her dog. It's not the entrance into Santiago we pictured, but we were all alone in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral. It was June 17 — thirty-eight days and 780 kilometers since we started May 11, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We were two of the first ten pilgrims in line for our compostelas , which meant we got tickets for a free lunch at the historic parador. Peter from Australia showed up and introduced us to Michael and Linda from Washington DC, who also got the lucky tickets. Peter also knew Ted and Darlene from Winnipeg, and gave them contact, since my phone died and we cou
Read more

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-four to Thirty-six

By -
Image
Gonzar to Melide to A Salceda Today we completed two 30km days in a row and we are within 25km of Santiago. We've walked over 700km from Saint Jean Pied de Port, France, for more than a month.  And after two days of rain, the sun came out and the sky was clear and blue.  We stopped in Melide for the night where we found an amazing vegetarian-vegan restaurant Casa Alongo run by Concha. She was happy to speak English and share her passion for fresh, local food. After a Camino of meat and typical pilgrim meals, it was a great find. She served us grilled vegetables with avocado aioli and  tostada de pulpo-- Galician bread toast with local cheese and octopus. . One bar along the road has bottled their own La Peregrina lager and invites pilgrims to write something on the bottle and decorate the patio. We walked our second to last day with friends we met a week ago--John, Norbert and Agnes. We talked about our families and what it's like to make friends on the Camino.  Everyone is a
Read more