Home Sweet Home

Two Sundays ago was my fall break and I got to go home for the first time! Whoever said "absence makes the heart go fonder" hit the nail right on the head. It felt so good to be home. Anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to describe my church's service. I attend the 8:30am service, which I guess you could call the more "traditional" service, although there's not that much of a difference between it and the 10:45am service. Service starts with the prelude and the acolytes lighting the candles - I already mentioned this in a previous post. Then Pastor Aaron greets the congregation and makes a few announcements. This is followed by the Children's Time - all the kids go up front and one has the "Pastor's box." A different child gets to take it home each week and put something in it that they bring the next Sunday. The trick here is that Pastor Aaron has to create a children's lesson on the spot about whatever's in the box. He's pretty good at it, in my opinion, although sometimes the connection is kind of a round and about way to approach it. After the kids are dismissed to Worship Connection (Junior Church) we all stand and greet one another, pastor included, and then we sing songs. Usually it's three praise and worship choruses and a hymn from the hymn book. We then take up an offering, and the offertory is usually done by the choir, the handbells, or various solos or duets. This particular Sunday a Korean couple performed a beautiful duet of "Ave Maria" with the piano and handbells. Instead of singing the traditional Doxology, we rotate songs - when I left we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and when I returned, we had switched back to "Give Thanks." We then have a time of praise and prayer where Pastor reads the prayer concerns and we pray over them. Now, we used to stand and read the gospel in unison, but this Sunday Pastor Aaron just had us follow along while he read. Then, the sermon begins - this week it was about "The Beauty of Revival." After the sermon, there were more announcements and the benediction. Then everyone sings one last chorus as the service ends. All file out to either go home or to Coffee Cafe and Sunday School. That's not all my church is about, that's just kind of the service in a nut shell. Check out the link to "Mount Pleasant UM Church" if you want to know more.
It felt really good to worship in a familiar place again. It's amazing how much God has worked in pulling me into this church in just my high school years - but that is a story for another place and time. I really like the way we do things in the UM church. Of course, this is the denomination I grew up in too, so I might be a little biased. :) Visiting all of these different denominations is an eye opening experience though! Yesterday I attended the same United Brethern church I had attended before - it's within walking distance so it's easy to go to that one. Not having wheels is hindering my journey a little, but I still find ways to get different places. Hopefully I will have a new experience this Sunday!