2nd before Lent
As the liturgical calendar continues its relentless progress towards Lent, we began to get into the Lenten mode by having an inordinately long service, at which I was serving.
Not only were the readings very long (aside from the gospel and I wasn’t carrying it this time …), but so were the hymns. Fortunately, they were very singable and so no one objected. When you have a 8 line 7 verse hymn that goes at snail’s pace it can be an entirely different matter. We also had two sermons for the price of one: a brief exposition on the Garden of Eden and a talk about a project in Malawi.
Serving passed without incident and as I was neither MCing or administering the chalice, the stress levels were consequently reduced. I sometimes feel that serving actually can get in the way of my concentrating on the service, so it was good to be able to focus this week. Next time I’m on the rota though, I am MCing, probably administering the chalice and it is family service again. It will also be Lent and the hymns less singable.
