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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 1/26/2010 2:06 PM | Well, things are picking up steam as far as the renovation to our sanctuary goes. Choate Construction has been on-site all week, taking down old lights, getting ready to put up new ones, working on the outside coverings for the stain glass windows on the outside walls, pulling out the pews, getting ready to work on the front wall and the expansion of the chancel area. The new stain glass will be made shortly, and the new front wall cross will arrive in the next week or so….whew, there is a lot of activity going on! Not sure how long it will actually take, but it is exciting to watch what is already going on.
Of course, this activity is what is making it necessary for us to worship in the fellowship hall. We have had 3 services and a Christmas Eve service in the fellowship hall and there is definitely a different feeling when we worship there as opposed to the sanctuary. Not worse, not better, just different. We are doing our best to adapt to our situation, which means changing some of the rubrics and flow of the service. In some ways, the thing that has taken up a lot of attention in planning is how we celebrate communion. We have been observing communion in a slightly different way – passing pre-cut bread and then dipping the bread in a passed chalice and eating. Part of the decision to do it that way was logistical: there is no where to put the little cups we normally use in the sanctuary! Part of the decision to do it that way was rooted in health issues: picking up a pre-cut slice of bread is a lot different than 150 people all touching a loaf that is passed.
So, while it has been different, it has been gratifying to see that the most important aspect of communion is not lost in this different space: the chance to pause and focus on the fact that Jesus died for us, was resurrected for us, and strengthens us to move into the world to continue his work. Maybe it’s good to vary things up a bit every once in a while so that we have to think about exactly what it is we are doing. If we let our sacraments turn into rote exercises, we will have lost the core of what they are all about. And that would be a terrible loss.
So this Sunday, when the bread is passed, and the cup follows behind, focus on what it all means to you, to us, and to the world that Christ said those wonderful words, “This is my body, given for you….” Because whatever form communion takes, it is always about remembering who we are and whose we are.
For an updated prayer list and list of coming activities, go to www.brookhavenchristian.org
For your prayer lists:
All those seeking shelter and warmth during these bitterly cold days.
All our young people that return to school and their studies this week – and their teachers, too.
Traveling mercies for Carol and me as we take part in a very exciting event: A Civil Rights Tour sponsored by the Zepp Center for Non-Violence and Peace Education and facilitated by Dr. Bernard LaFayette, one of the co-founders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee – the group who organized the “Freedom Rides” and many of the boycotts of segregated facilities in the 1960’s. Dr. LaFayette and his wife extended the invitation to us after becoming friends with Carol over the last year or so, and I feel privileged to be able to come along, too! We will travel to Charleston and Johns Island, S.C., Savannah and Albany, GA, Montgomery, AL and back to Atlanta with a group of 30 to various sites important to the Civil Rights movement. The study focus will be on the role fo the church, women and labor unions in the movement. We leave tomorrow morning and return Sunday night. I look forward to sharing the experience when we return.
Upcoming Events
Watch for information concerning an upcoming Super Bowl party early in February. It promises to be fun, even if the Falcons won’t be in it this year.
I hope you can make it to worship this Sunday as once again, the Lord’s Day is celebrated. Rev. Jennifer will be preaching a sermon entitled “Seeking the Light” and the scriptures are: Isaiah 60:1-3,19 and Matthew 2:1-2. Have a great rest of the week!
Be peaceful,
Brad
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