Sunday, 15 April 2012

Stand-in Sunday










*No. Really, no.


  1. Bristol Rovers? Casting light? Oh dear....

  2. I find it worrying (because it suggests that I might not be as young as I was) the number of times that I come up with the perfect hymn to suit my sermon theme, look for it in Hymns & Psalms (I suppose soon I'll have to get to grips with Singing the Faith) and discover that it isn't in the "New book". Sometimes you just can't do without the MHB! fortunately most organists are happy to locate a copy in some almost-forgotten store room.

  3. Must go now - off to find that village where I last preached in August 2009!

    1. Interesting concept. I was due at one church for something or other, when I received a panicky phone call from another - pleading with me to fill in there. I know that I might be superhuman, but not being God or Jesus, I find it physically impossible to be in two places at the same time.

      I offered to bless them by mobile phone if it would help, but some coughing and spluttering ensued, and we were cut off mid-stream.

      Stand-in's have their limitations I'll have you know. At the first service the celebrant was left standing outside the church in early morning cold as both Church Wardens with keys had taken a holiday, and each had forgotten to tell the other. Being that the church is 1200 years old, the door is fairly sturdy, and we didn't have a battering ram handy to break it down. After considering an Al-fresco service, with substitute crisps and cola for communion, the stand-in, for the stand-in for the stand-in church warden, turned up with 5 minutes to go, having slept in after a rather heavy night in a local hostelry.

      The next drama was entering the vestry - somebody had neglected to say where everything was hidden (a nearby church was recently burgled) and the new security precautions hadn't been disseminated to the uninitiated stand-in, for the stand-in, stand-in CW.

      Eventually got the service underway, all of this adversity seemed to make the celebrant nervous and twitchy - The BCP service sounded like a machine gun as we raced through it at breakneck speed. Turned out they had another stand-in, stand-in commitment at a benefice 30 miles away. Their locum duties seems to be giving them a nervous breakdown.

      I had to point out that this chaos was normal, and was even worse when the full team were present.

      Loving it all, Stand-in Sunday is every Sunday where we worship. And weren't the disciples a bit chaotic, they locked them selves in and Jesus still managed to pick the locks and get in. So, we can see that this sort of thing goes back to the early church - discipleship has been passed down from generation to generation, unsullied and uncorrupted by progress and efficiency.

  4. We also needed a locksmith today as the key to the church safe failed to work. A churchwarden managed to rustle up a chalice but papers for the AGM remained locked away. The skeleton under the church coffee table will have to remain there for a little longer, there are still forms to be filled. Ah well, I don't see why she shouldn't make it to her half centenary.

  5. We waited for the worship leader to arrive, thinking he had selected the songs. Turned out he hadn't so we got the congregation to choose their own five minutes before start of play. Then there was a power cut half way through Reign in Me and the second half of each verse of Be Thou My Vision was missing from the Powerpoint. But we sang on regardless.

  6. Our priest got a text last night that said his stand-in was in labor and he had to concoct a sermon after all. He didn't even know exactly which readings were prescribed for today beyond the gospel. Having been caught with this news just as the Three Stoges movie started. He was at the theatre with his three boys trying to enjoy a little R&R. He managed to pull together a sermon that actually created a connection between the three Stoges and the story of Thomas - no small feat!!


Drop a thoughtful pebble in the comments bowl