What a Day!
Well, last Saturday certainly an eventful day for me and for our new church. My day began early in the morning with yard work at my daughter’s house, home for a shower, and then a busy day of getting things ready for our first worship service. I had a long check list so hopefully I wouldn’t forget anything important but it seemed I kept finding little things to add to the list. I managed to take a small break at lunch time but then it was back to cramming the station wagon full with sound equipment, boxes of things for worship and children’s classes and other miscellaneous items.
At 2:30 I headed out to Vistancia Elementary School where I met up with Shannon at 3:00 who then unlocked the doors and got us in. From 3:00 to 4:30 it was a mad dash to try and get everything done in time for worship at 5:00. There were seven of us plus the five members of the praise band and it took all of us working as quickly as we could to get things set up (three others, including my wife Sue, came a little later but still pitched in to get things done). DJ, the worship leader from Discovery Pointe Church also came to help with the setup and stayed to play bass guitar with our band. That was very cool!
At 4:45 I realized that I was going to have to leave the rest of the setup to our crew and get changed for worship. I wore a new pair of blue jeans, new white sneakers, and had just an old t-shirt on for the sweaty job of setup. I had brought a white dress shirt and tie to change into, which I managed to do in the boys’ bathroom. At 4:55 I came into the school multi-purpose room to meet the Bishop and go over the service with her. At 5:00 the band started playing and I took a deep breath. Not exactly a sigh of relief – that would come later!
I thought the service went well. Sue had warned me that I would probably be a little rusty and she was right. I had a million things going on in my head and trying to focus on worship in a new and somewhat strange place was challenging. We had a few technical glitches – entirely expected under the circumstances. I was nervous – even introduced the Bishop by the wrong name! But everyone who was there (the ushers counted 94 including children) said it was a wonderful service with a nice spirit. I know it will get better (and easier) as we get into a routine of weekly worship. But all in all, a good start for our new church.
If you were there, thank you for coming. If you missed this first service, there will be many more. See you in worship!
09-09-08 09:36 PM
09-09-08 09:41 PM
Pastor Steve,
With God, you did a wonderful job in sharing your gifts Saturday night with everyone in attendance.
It was wonderful to share in the Baptism of Page, to have the Bishop share the communion table and once again, with you at the pulpit and hearing the word of God.
I pray for our continued growth as a church family and in our faith, with you at the helm.
Joy and Love,
Barb
10-08-08 02:51 PM
Dear Steve,
The first worship we attended in Arizona, we'd only been here less than a week) was at the school before New
Song was built. It
took away the homesickness that I had for everything familiar. The service was wonderful and made us feel at home. We had the same feeling when we attended Spirit Song's first service in September. Worship always makes me feel at "home" and the SSong's first service with someone we knew made it very special. We're thankful for the opportunity to hear you preach again. Thank you.
Peggy
10-20-08 06:15 PM
Hi Steve - Sorry we missed it. We are still trying to find a comfortable replacement for you, and New Song! We think of you often and wish Spirit Song UMC the very best! With you at the lead, it is sure to be successful!