All by Myself...Sort of

This past Sunday was Linda's first day off since I started working at the churches. We had a Princeton doctoral student come preach and do Communion. Linda put me in charge of making sure everything ran smoothly, and some of her normal tasks, like doing the announcements at the beginning of the service.

I did a pretty good job of letting Anthony where to go and when. I gave him a bulletin with all of his parts highlighted and directions about where he should be at each point during the service. I completely forgot, however, to tell him how we do Communion at St. Mark, and had to explain it to him as we were supposed to be having Communion. Fortunately, it all worked out, and the second service ran a lot smoother.

Being there "alone" definitely gave me a whole different perspective on things. Sure, I pay attention through both services each week, but that doesn't mean that I still don't miss some of the "details." For example, I knew that Linda always goes to set up Communion at some point before that portion of the liturgy actually starts. But I forgot where it was, and the Communion assistant didn't cue us, either. Now I know, and I'll never forget, that she sets it up during offering. I also had to ask a lot of questions of people: how to adjust the temperature so we weren't melting, how/when to serve Communion to the choir, and probably a lot more I can't think of right now.

I was also amazed by how much people were willing to ask of me. I'm still pretty new at St. Mark and I have absolutely zero authority over anything. Yet someone asked why I wasn't preaching. Someone else asked what they were supposed to do about something that was going on that day. The acolytes listened when I told them about the special candles that were out this week. It's weird for me to be back in that position. I knew where everything was and how everything worked at the church my dad started, and what I didn't know, I could find out with ease. Things were pretty similar at college after the first year. But here I am, in a position of supposed authority, and I don't know half of what's going on. It's definitely a humbling experience, and one I hope carries over into my first call, where I'll be learning the ropes of a new church, a new job, and a new life.

Praise God for humbling moments, and thank God for learning.