St. Paul's United Methodist ChurchDa Lay Speak!
November 2009
Hola y bienvenido to our “Pass The Turkey & Stuffing” edition….let’s
see what’s happening together…
Da Roster
Kudos, kiddo, to Linda Clark for her exemplary preached message on
Laity/Pastor Appreciation Sunday last month. Also, let’s tip our lids to
all of us that took part that day, filling in at different points of
both services. We showed our blessed Congregation why we are known as
“St. Pauley’s Finest”. Bill will pound the pulpit on November 1st, and
yours truly will do the same in Lovelock at the same time. Joyce will be
up for the next Padre Pat’s next day off, followed by Mary.
Training Opportunities
Delta District (Sacramento Area)
Classes will resume in January. Class information in December.
Pre-Registration is required for all classes. Some classes require
homework prep before attending. Contact
Delta District, Attention Cindy Buna, deltadist@calnevumc.org. Cost
includes materials, books, refreshments and lunch.
Nevada-Sierra District (that’s ours):
To be announced.
Have you completed at least one class within the past 3-years to
retain your certification?
From My Notebook
(This month we continue on to some more stuff from my Notebook related
to Ministries of Word and Sacrament….)
When people come forward in response to the invitation to Christian
discipleship, laypeople may join the pastor in welcoming them, and may
assist the pastor in conducting baptisms and confirmations. Laypeople
may also assist pastor in the distribution of Communion elements. When
assisting in the celebration of the sacraments and Holy Communion, it is
essential to work under the direction of the pastor or ordained
minister, who is presiding. Remember that key parts of these rituals are
reserved to the presider. Let the pastor guide you in what you are to do
and how you are to do it.
(Continued)
Coming Attractions
I want to share another message from Quincy UMC’s pastor, Cynthia
Stateman, for this month and next few:
“There are so many ways to be with God, to talk with and listen to God.
To pray simply means to spend time sharing your life with God and
opening yourself to God to share with you. Jesus himself prayed often.
Look how simple the prayer is that Jesus taught his disciples. Prayer
doesn’t need to be long and complicated:
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us the time of trial.’ (Luke 11:1-4)
Jesus made it a habit to pray. He had times and places set aside to
be with God regularly. Even during extremely difficult times, Jesus went
to God for guidance.
(Continued)
Segue
Padre Pat asked me to pass along a request for all of us to be
mindful that there are many times when the Sunday sign-up lists for
Reader, Communion Servers, etc., go begging for someone to step up and
take part. Your editor brings this up from time to time to ask all of us
to help out, and to possibly set an example for others, to follow up to
ensure a spiritually meaningful worship experience for all of us, that
will bring honor and glory to God. I sign up for Reader and sometimes
for the Children’s Story Time & Server about once or twice each calendar
quarter. I try to set an example for the rest of us to look over the
Signup Clipboard each Sunday, see what duties are needed, and put pencil
or pen with your name next to one of them a little more frequently when
you can. Please, join me in this.
The Lord’s Laughter (from the Joyful Noiseletter)
Pastor Bob Thompson of the Corinth Reformed Church in Hickory, NC, reports that each year the church’s “confirmands” are required to visit another church and write a brief essay on their experiences—what was similar, what was different, and how the experience affected them. Here are some of Thompson’s favorite responses from this year’s essays:
- Baptist Church: “During one part of the service in the background they had a Baptist pool. We had a chance to see some get dipped into the pool full body.”
- Catholic Church: “They also did all these strange hand signals that I didn’t know.
- African-American Church: “They only beat us in one thing. Staying on beat.”
- Pentecostal Church: “During the sermon, the pastor would randomly start crying. He cried a lot.”
- “The church I visited was called First Methodist, which is a Baptist church.”
- Methodist Church: “Another thing I noticed was that the assistant pastor dozed off during the other pastor’s sermon.
See ya Sunday! Diz.