our gathering last night was cancelled. 6″ of snow followed by ice. so, no new ideas to share. i do, however, have time to go back and comment on the previous week (#3).

i’d still love to hear ideas for effectively starting a service. my mind is woefully bereft of ideas.

the biggest blunder was clearly my mangling of the lord’s prayer, but only a blunder in so far as i didn’t know all the words. didn’t make for a particularly “worshipful” or solemn moment, but that’s fine. i rather thought the lighter vibe was refreshing. we tend to do somber and reflective very well, while upbeat cheery-ness is more difficult. not that we’re a sad lot; many have the equation worship/church=solemn written into their firmware.

the song and scripture were well received and well executed, but the highlight was the marathon man clip and accompanying prose. not everyone got it; not everyone understood what we were trying to drive home with the clip. but that’s entirely ok. “getting it” isn’t necessarily the point. sure there is an intended meaning with art, but often that is no more than a suggestion, a direction to point the observer as they engage with the piece.

regardless, whether they “got it” or not, they engaged with it. they discussed it and asked questions about it afterward. they remembered it and related to it later in the week. (kerri shared an encouraging antecdote along these lines.) there have been more “on-topic” conversations following the service in the last three weeks than in the previous three years! (slight hyperbole) agree or disagree, like or dislike, understand or not: people are engaging, thinking, considering, discussing, pondering and, hopefully, living.

negative feedback, such as the visiting couple who were too wierded out to consider returning, is so draining. this, however, is just the encouragement i need to continue.