Worship

Worship Sunday had some amazing moments. The music was terrific. From a huge chorale choir singing traditional music to a contemporary band to a band with traditional Native American instruments to the hymns we sang together, I found the music inspiring.

We also witnessed a baptism for the first time at a worship service of the General Assembly. Many members of the congregation (located in Minneapolis) where the infant will grow in faith gathered around the baptismal font to answer questions for their community. The baptism was a tremendous reminder of God's covenant that reaches out to us and the future that awaits us as a church united by our baptism in Christ.

The outgoing moderator of the General Assembly (Bruce Reyes-Chow) preached the sermon. I had not heard him before, so it was good to hear his stories.

Perhaps the most powerful moment came when I turned around (I was somewhere near the front) and saw the mass of people gathered in worship. I'm not sure if we numbered 8,000 as anticipated, but is was awesome to realize we were all united in Christ as we worshiped together.

As I sat in the pew, to my left were a husband and wife (ministers who served in the presbytery where I did my internship) who I had met 20 years earlier when they extended themselves to Leslie and me in our first year of marriage while I served in the bounds of their presbytery. To my right was a new friend whom I met that morning when we arrived for worship. He was from the presbytery where I served in KY, so we had several friends in common. When we sang the song after the baptism that spoke of God's love that follows us through our lives and then again when we shared communion, he had tears in his eyes ans was overcome with emotion. I do not know his story or why those moments touched him in such a powerful way, but I was moved to know that I shared the moment with him.

Peace,

Richard