Holy Days

This is my first year celebrating Holy Week as a pastor, and so far it is everything that I hoped it would be.  It started last night with a quick Seder meal- we had the Seder plate and the foods on it, and I walked everyone through what a Seder is and why we as Christians should understand what it is.  We quickly went through the order of the meal and then we had a light meal.  People seemed really interested in the whole thing and had some great questions.  We then went into the sanctuary and had a Holy Communion service.  It was really nice.  Then today we had the Good Friday service that I put together, and we had about 70 people there- a much bigger crowd than I thought, especially since the church hasn't done one in a long time.  We had the regulars, people from other UM churches, and a few people from the community.  Everything went well, and I think people really enjoyed the service.  I was a little nervous because it was a different kind of service than most people are used to, but it seemed to go over well.  We had a mixture of songs and scripture readings telling the story of the Passion, along with traditional Good Friday hymns.  It was wonderful to see different people from the congregation having a part in it through the readings or music.

I think that a lot of us who are pastors are worried about getting so caught up in the business of Holy Week that we forget to celebrate it, but I think that I feel God working even more in the process of preparing for Holy Week.  I have loved my preparation and being able to teach people about the traditions of Holy Thursday and organizing the Good Friday service.  I am excited about preaching my first sunrise service.  I am so thankful that God has called me to be a pastor.  I love my job, even though the church can be a dramatic place and even though people can be very strange- I've had an interesting experience this week with a man who gets into patterns of calling nonstop and coming by the church, and he doesn't seem to have a concept of boundaries.  It's just another example of the kinds of people that the church draws in- some require more grace than others...and of course, I won't be forgetting about my "friends" who called me a "Jezebel" anytime soon.  It is Holy Week...and time to show a little grace, right?

Happy Easter to all!