A Word From Father Bob
Nobody likes changes! I overheard an old man talking in the McDonalds the other day. He was proudly proclaiming to several other old me who were there with him: “There have been a lot of changes in my church lately… and I want to say that I’ve been against every one of them!”
Once there was a new pastor in a church that had been divided by a big disagreement. The new pastor decided he would visit several of the people who had left the church to try to mend any hurt feelings. He was visiting one older couple, and asked them about why they had left the church. The old man said: “Well, it was about the carpet. They were putting new carpet in the sanctuary, and some people wanted green and some wanted red.” The pastor asked which side they had been on? The old man scratched his head and thought for a minute, then asked his wife: “Honey, which color did we want?”
Nobody likes change, and I promised when I came to St. James that I would not make any changes that were not needed. “Don’t fix it, if it ain’t broken!” However, I am about to make my first change! Not that it is broken, but it is just awkward…for me, at least. Starting this Sunday, we will sing the sequence hymn all the way through rather than stopping before the last verse. A couple of things have prompted this change. First, our organist Nancy will be out this Sunday, and we will be using the digital keyboard to the organ. It is hard to stop this recorded version of the hymn at the next to the last verse, then start it back up again. I talked with Nancy, to see if it would be okay with her to continue singing the Gospel hymn all the way through, and she thought it would be great… less confusion for her.
I know this is not a big deal, or a big change in the way things are done, but I have learned through 42 years of ministry that it is often the little things that cause the biggest upsets. So just a heads up to everyone …. Something will be different this Sunday! Let’s try it for a season and see if we don’t grow to like it. Thanks! Bob +
