Fourth Worship Time
On Sunday, July 12 I worshiped at St John's Lutheran Church in Thornton, Colorado with my friends The Smith family. They are all very active at St. John's, and love their congregation a great deal! All three of them are going to the ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit Michigan this week, so it was great timing to be at worship with them. I must admit to getting a little misty eyed when the congregation had a time of blessing for the people going to the gathering. My own daughter, Hannah, with be there with the youth from Clinton Heights and I did not get to see her after her week at Camp Mowana before I left. I thought about how they were doing the exact same thing back at CHLC that same day, and I wasn't there to help see her off. I am sure they will have a great time!
       The first difference I noticed while in the parking lot is that in the field owned by the church live a whole bunch of prairie dogs. They were everywhere! I didn't expect to see that! Upon entering the church building I was greeted by two older folks who welcomed me there. The entrance area isn't too big, but neither is the rest of the building. The sanctuary is very cozy, and instead of pews there are padded wooden seats. If I were to describe this congregation in one word it would be "informal". Pastor Penni was ever present in the sanctuary getting things all set before service, greeting me and asking the ushers to make sure that the air conditioner was on and that she had a glass of water up front. The music was led by piano, played by a 14 year old girl who was filling in for the regular pianist. She did really great on preludes, postludes and interludes, and the hymns were very good as well. If I had one word of encouragement it would have been to pause a second or two between verses, but I am sure she had nerves going as well!
          It was a new setting for communion from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book for me, although I knew the kyrie from trying to introduce it once in Oak Harbor and once at Clinton Heights. I love it, but many people don't because there is a lot of syncopation that is involved. Penni's message on Prophets was really good - she did the children's sermon between the prayer of the day and the scripture, which is a real possibility for me to try out. They also skipped the second lesson, which is not a bad idea either when the pastor does not plan to talk about it during the sermon. The passing of the peace took quite a while as this often does in smaller congregations where people know everybody and value the relationships there. Communion was easy to follow, and there were some goodies after the service in a room adjacent to the gathering area. If there was one thing that kind of stuck out for me it was that the congregation and pastor might have bordered on being a little bit too informal for my taste. I pride myself on having a confident presence in front when I lead worship, and Penni's posture was one that almost seemed like she wasn't into it too much. But that is my own personal preference and experience.
         Really I enjoyed the experience and St. John's is a welcoming, friendly and vibrant (if not small, like Clinton Heights) Lutheran congregation that if doing wonderful ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.