Worship

After being a UCC and a Lutheran since I left Kearney, I was a Presbyterian for the first time today.  It was lovely.  I went and heard my friend Laurie preach.  She is a friend from seminary that I've been able to connect with on Facebook.  I know that people joke about Facebook, but it has been a blessing for me to find so many people I have lost track of through the years.

Laurie is an associate pastor at a multi staff church here in Portland.  It is a beautiful old building with a large and enthusiastic congregation with a lot of kids.  The worship was thoughtful and followed the central theme of Jesus parable of the poor man Lazarus and the rich man.   Laurie preached a great sermon on the topic.  There was a baptism of a baby girl who looked like she was the source of infinite wisdom, as babies often do.

I realized as I watched my friend preach, that I miss preaching.  I miss leading worship.  I always thought of attending a worship service as a special treat.  It was nice to go to church and not have to be the one in charge.  It was something that I was able to do so infrequently, either at a Presbytery meeting or when I was vacation or study leave, that it was a special pleasure.  

I enjoyed the worship today.  I felt blessed to be among such lovely people, to see how well Laurie preached.   But for the first time today, I really missed it.   Preaching and worship leadership was always my favorite part of the job. 

So I've got a call into Cascades Presbytery.  I'm hoping to get on their pulpit supply list.  I need to get back on the horse, one step at a time.

Susan took me to the beach house in Lincoln City for the fist time on Friday.  We spent the night there.  It is an older house, it reminded me a lot of the houses you see around Seneca Lake, up above the water, great views.  The weather was incredibly clear while we were there.  The sunset was incredible.  There was a full moon that night and you could see the ocean in the moonlight.   I felt like this was a place I could sit and watch the sea and pray and write and heal and grow strong.  I move there tomorrow.

Blessings,

Cindy