Such is the Life...!

Oh blog friends, how I have missed you! February and March have been the busiest months EVER! Seriously! I've had up to 5 or 6 things on my calendar per day- every day except Tuesdays. And I seriously believe that weddings could take over my life. I have 6 weddings from now until September, and that means meeting with couples numerous times in between. On top of that, it's been crazy with Lent activities, bible studies, and meetings that I have to sit through, plus we are doing some special things in the choir, which I am also a part of. So...it's been really busy.

Nothing major to write about though...except to say that we have started a new worship service at Memorial for Sunday evenings during Lent. This was an idea of our worship committee chair who wanted to do something new and different and hopefully to attract brand new people who want something else out of "church." Unfortunately, it hasn't gone so well. We've had different pastors and speakers come in and do the worship/program, and so far it's been a little bit too much like regular church and I think it would turn anyone new off. The idea is to have more of an interactive, exploratory worship, much like the emerging worship styles we hear about these days. One of the problems is that before we gave this a try, we didn't hear much of a clamor or need for a type of service like this. Nevermind the fact that United Methodists don't like to have worship on Sunday nights. I'm sure that didn't help us either. So here we are, going on our 4th week in, and we have yet to see a new face appear in this service even though it's been advertised and publicized, etc. I hate to say it, but I didn't have much faith in this to begin with, and unfortunately it has not gone well, and the senior pastor and I have really tried to help in ways we can, but also to step out of it and let others take charge. The plan is to re-evaluate after Lent and then see what may or may not be done.

Another thought I've had lately is about weddings- why do people want to be married in a church if they are not religious? Out of the 6 weddings I am doing, only 1 couple are members at the church. A couple I met with last week called me last minute and asked me to do their wedding at a college here in town because their officiant decided he wasn't actually ordained to marry. When I asked them if they wanted Holy Communion in their wedding, the guy looked blankly at me and said, "I have no idea what that is." Ok, that's a no then! So why do people insist on having pastors marry them? Our job is to provide help and counseling for couples and to marry them into a Christian covenant with a Christian ceremony. When it comes down to it, a lot of couples just want the church because "it's pretty" and it will look good in the pictures. I can't help but wonder if pastors are just pawns in the big games that weddings have become. If so, what is our role then?

In other news- I am going to FL with my friend Becky next week- I leave on Sunday. Can you tell how ready I am for a vacation? Then after that I will hit the ground running with Easter week activities, including the Easter egg hunt for the kids, the choir Easter cantata, Holy Thursday Seder meal and worship, and Good Friday worship, followed by everything going on on Easter morning. Maybe then, after that, things will slow down? Nah, probably not. Oh well...such is the life! Happy Spring!