ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
August 11, 2026
A funny thing happened on Sunday, or maybe I should call it embarrassing. I have been known to be a bit of a control freak when it comes to worship. I have my opinions, and those opinions can carry some weight. Well, Sunday, I was not participating in worship. Joel was preaching, Jimmy Jacobson was directing the choir, Paula was the worship leader, and Graham was doing the Blessing of the Backpacks. I sat in the vineyards, stage left. The congregation stood for the opening song, prayer, and then the song of response. Paula stepped to the microphone, and I sat down and then gestured to have people sit down. I’ve only done what Paula was doing in that moment more than 200 times, but Paula just looked back at me, smiled, and shook her head. She was right as there were two more steps before inviting people to sit down. I was a bit embarrassed, but also had one of those moments where I learned my lesson quickly. I had no responsibility, and so I needed to let go and simply worship. And I did! It was really quite nice. I recognize that I have only moments here and there during the services when I actually worship, ad for that reason, I find opportunities to worship elsewhere. But here was a chance, and I almost missed it because I had this unspoken need to still run the show. That statement is sort of troubling by itself, as my prayer and hope is that our worship is still coming alongside what God is already doing in the world, and in that moment, we allow the Spirit to guide the experience. Of course, there is a lot of planning that goes into the worship experiences, but at the end of the day, we are hoping to create a window through which people glimpse the Holy and find affirmation as one of God’s beloved.
Thank you for continuing to be gracious, O God, in spite of those moments when my need to be in charge can easily disrupt what worship is about. May what I do simply be an introduction, and then hopefully I can get out of the way so the community can spend a little time with you. Amen.
