St. Thomas Meditative Service

First off I must say thank you to all those who made this service possible. There were many hands and many meetings that made this event one to remember.

We had a good turn out for a new event, about 60 to 70 people. There is just something so inspiring about an evening service. The whole mood changes. I talked with some folks afterward and many simply said they couldn't really explain it, it just felt different. It wasn't as busy as a normal worship service, there was time to just sit and pray, and connect with God. Probably half of the people who attended made time to walk the labyrinth. I walked it myself a little bit, and read the messages along the path, many describing where they see God. "I see God when I am hurting and crying" one message read, one person had written, "I see God in YOU." I can't really describe the feeling, but walking that path I felt joys and sorrows, and moved in my soul. As an intern pastor, or pastor in general, Sunday worship is more work than worship. So the chance to take time and worship God in a way that helped me to personally connect was a refreshing experience. The music was perfect for the evening, and the message that Pastor Ed gave was so fitting. At the end of the evening I was able to light a candle and place it among the many others as I prayed at the altar, a symbol of a personal connection with God while also being among the community.

No Trick, Just a Treat

Yesterday was Halloween (Happy belated Halloween) and for those of us in the Lutheran church, it was also Reformation Day (Happy belated Reformation Day), when Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg. You can check the wiki here.

The church that I am at internship at Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran, is holding an ecumenical service with other local churches. The service is based on the St. Thomas Mass, we're calling ours a St. Thomas Meditative Service, to avoid confusion. To spread the word about this upcoming event a few of us went out to the neighbors and handed out a church business card with life savers attached, the card also had information about the upcoming service. I think that most people were a little suspect at first, since we didn't have kids with us, but many warmed up to the idea and were at least nice. We'll have to see if it actually works though once we have the service this coming Sunday.