This morning, the five+ inches of snow on our street still hadn’t been plowed. This wasn’t a surprise. There are so many little subdivision streets and lanes out here that residential areas are almost never plowed until the snow comes to a full and complete stop.
But I hate to cancel Sunday Eucharist. Communion is at the center of Episcopal worship, so canceling means depriving people of receiving the sacrament. My rule of thumb tends to be that if I can get to church, we’ll have worship, even if it’s just Adam and me. As one church leader said to me, it’s better to have four people in church on Sunday than four people with their noses pressed against our glass front doors, wondering where everyone is.
My music director said he was on his way from the city. So, Adam and I got in the car and blazed through the deep snow to Weber Road, our nearest major street. On the way, we passed an SUV stuck in an intersection, revving its tires and engine and going nowhere. Our little Honda scooted along and when we got to church, five cars were already in the parking lot.
Choir rehearsal was beginning – as it turned out, the choir made up about half of the twenty-one people who came to church today. Ah, the loyalty and faithfulness of choir members! They were the ones who first discovered that the bulletins had been printed with half the pages upside-down and backwards. So, we decided to get our Traditional Episcopal on and say the service out of the Book of Common Prayer. The excitement in the room was palpable. (Oh, geeky church people – you’re so cute.)
Meanwhile, a soprano set to tearing off the second to last page in a stack of bulletins so we could still sing one of our favorite hymns, which had been printed in the bulletin because it isn’t in our hymnal. I sat down to mark the pages of my prayer book with its ribbons and a few post-its.
There were phone and email messages from folks who couldn’t make it, but from those assembled we still had an usher, an acolyte, and a chalice bearer. So, worship began. The ten person choir sang beautifully to the seven people in the pews, the three on the altar, and the one usher at the door.
It turns out, in all the confusion that morning, I forgot something important.
After the gospel procession, this was me at the pulpit:”Brian, would you play a little cover music while I run and get my sermon?”
After worship, 100% of those in attendance came to coffee hour – another delightful surprise because the host made it to church intact with rolls, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, cookies, and a veggie tray.
Folks helped one another brush the snow off their cars, and headed back home.
I don’t want to suggest that those who made it to church are more faithful than those who didn’t. As a matter of fact, one couple told me that they were staying home to help their elderly neighbors shovel out. There’s also nothing wrong with wanting to stay off snowy, icy roads.
This is a glimpse into a strange and goofy Sunday morning and gratitude for all it still offered me and, I hope, everyone who was there.
Rev. H, it was awesome & silly & totally fun – I wish Adam had gotten a picture of you arriving back in the sanctuary with your sermon held high over your head! We don’t usually answer questions out loud during sermons & we don’t usually laugh right out loud during church, but it was great! Everybody stayed for coffee & eats (thanks coffee host for braving the snow!). The service was so Spirit-filled – I hope more folks make it to the service next Sunday, but I feel a real bond with the brave band of silly church geeks who tackled the snow yesterday to worship, pray, sing, laugh & praise God together! We’re SO blessed!