Thoughts on Visiting Another CongregationAnn and I left Dallas on June 1 to visit my mom and other family members in Tennessee. Then we ventured to her home in Kentucky and to her family’s first ever reunion on the 7th. We spent that Saturday evening with a cousin’s family in Sturgis, KY. On Sunday we visited the local United Methodist Church where they are members and Jane, our hostess, is organist. We didn’t know at the time that their youngest son, Gavin, would be confirmed that Sunday. He’s one engaging teen, so our being present on this special day had particular meaning for both Ann and me.
Here is a collage of my thoughts and feelings upon visiting another congregation:
It’s good to sit in a pew and worship without having leadership responsibilities for the service. Ah, the second service at LHPC will begin in a few minutes, and I have this vague feeling of not being "in my place." Not that I worry; the congregation is in capable hands with Robert M. Rather, it’s Sunday morning and they are at worship, and I’m not there.
The salutation in the opening prayer catches me by surprise. The minister prays, "Holy God, on this birthday of the church..." What birthday? Is today the anniversary of this congregation? Of the United Methodist Church? No, he’s referring to Pentecost. Today is Pentecost! I have forgotten. Pentecost is the birthday of all churches.
My collage of thoughts took me mentally back to Dallas and to you gathered at Audelia Road and Shoreview. My reflections became an "un-seasonal" celebration of Lake Highlands Presbyterian. (Un-seasonal because we won’t mark our congregation’s next anniversary until January.) Once, on the first Pentecost, God gifted the earliest Christians with the Holy Spirit, gathered them as God’s people and empowered them to live out their calling. The same Spirit of God gifted us, gathered us from three former congregations and beyond and now empowers us to be about our calling. The story of Pentecost goes on--and we are living it.
-- Robert E Shelton