The church I attend holds the communion service on the first Sunday of the month. During the pandemic and up through December, the church switched from passing the elements to prefilled communion cups that we picked up at the door so we could maintain social distancing.
These convenient prefilled communion cups were rather difficult for some of us to use. The top compartment held the wafer (not sure what that is made of but it was truly awful), and the seal was hard to get off. The seal for the cup holding the grape juice was also hard to get off.
But we soldiered on.
At the annual meeting in December, the congregation elected me to be on the board that makes decisions for the church. The board also announced at the meeting that we would resume the traditional communion service in January.
Being on the board means that I am supposed to serve communion. When we were discussing on the first Sunday in January who would serve communion that morning, I told them that I did not want to serve communion because I am uncoordinated and clumsy and was afraid. They said that was okay, I didn’t have to.
But then a Sunday School lesson reminded us that “whom God calls He also equips” and so I decided I would take a turn after all. The first time I served communion it went okay.
And this past Sunday it was my turn again. And it also went okay but not quietly.
When I got to the last pew in the auditorium and took the tray with the cups back from the person I had served...
I whacked the communion tray against the back the pew. Loudly.
Our pastor said not to worry, that one time someone coming down the platform steps after serving the organist stumbled and dropped the whole tray.
It could have been worse.
2 comments:
Oh my, I do understand how you feel. I had a similar experience.
Happy November,
Carla
Awwwww you did great! Everyone whacks the pew now and then! I am just so happy to hear that some church somewhere has gone back to serving Lord's supper by passing the trays. In our church we observe the Lord's supper (that's what we call that particular ordinance) three or four times a year. Since covid, on Lord's supper night we arrive at church to see two deacons standing just inside the vestibule, holding baskets containing baggies with the self-contained wafer and grape juice. What is annoying to me is that, one, we are still doing this instead of going back to the proper way; and two, that the deacons who hold the baskets are wearing bright blue latex gloves. ???????? I asked them last time as I took my baggie: Why are y'all wearing those gloves? One of them answered: It makes some people feel better. ???????? That makes zero sense because those same people had lined up in our Family Life Center the previous Sunday night, to dig in to the various and sundry dishes people had brought from home for our churchwide potluck. No one wore gloves. No one "distanced" themselves in any way; the dishes were communal and the serving utensils were communal. I think we could safely pass the Lord's supper elements now. But unlike you, I am not on a committee that makes decisions for the church, hahaha! Anyway, good on you for going out on a limb to serve. xoxo
Post a Comment