Well…the congregational meeting I wrote about last time went pretty well. We had the election of new church council members and there was nothing too out of the ordinary (the transition between the former and new financial secretary is going to be interesting though).
Another big item at the meeting was a discussion about the new ELW (Evangelical Lutheran Worship). I bought 6 copies of the hymnal for people to check out and review. So far a 1/2 a dozen people have looked at them (we have a ways to go). We have not made any decisions but I am guessing we will be moving in that direction. Then after the meeting a parishioner came up to me and said that along with new hymnals we need to have Bibles in the pews (we currently use the ELCA "Celebration" insert with the lessons printed). I agreed whole heartily and said I was looking for some good ones that had a type that was the same size or bigger than our inserts.
The last big item was how to spend the money from the large gift we received from a parishioner. The committee came up with a priority list and number 1 was was no surprise (the entrance ramp going into the sanctuary needs a big face lift). Number 2 on the list was to re-model the church offices. I currently have a closet for an office with no air conditioning (did I mention I have no air conditioning and the dew point today is suppose to approach 70). Anyway…I was excited about that. People seemed to agree with the list.
The one thing that did come up (that caught me off guard – in a good way) was about celebrating Holy Communion more than once a month. A woman mentioned that she works every other weekend and usually misses out on communion. She asked if we could do it more often so she could participate. Of course I am all for that and according to Luther, celebrating Holy Communion EVERYDAY would not be enough. Unfortunately it will be a tough road for me to move people to a more than once a month Communion habit. My internship congregation went through this long process just before I arrived there and so far it is going well. I guess I will have to take things slow and do a lot of education. Any advice about this?
As Diane commented the other day, it is an exciting time to be the pastor at Salem Lutheran Church. There are some big challenges ahead for us, but I know that God will guide us. I pray that I have the wisdom and strength to persevere when things get tough. With that…I embrace the changes that are coming.
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
We’re also in the process of getting the new hymnals. The choir has been using some of the music for awhile, and we’ve been using some of the liturgical elements for about 3 years, when it was out in the trial form. One previous pastor liked the liturgy and prayers from the ELW…it seemed to me that he thought that if something was longer it was better. That I didn’t like.
I don’t remember that the congregation voted on getting the hymnals. Perhaps just the council decided, but we are just asking for donations for buying them, plus some earmarked memorial money.
Regarding communion. We have it twice per month, usually 1st and 3rd Sundays. Because of 5th Sundays and because sometimes it has to be moved around, the every-other schedule doesn’t always pertain.
We do “kneel at the railing” on the 1st Sunday and “walk-through” on the third Sunday. It is well accepted. We have between 115 and 175 in church year round, more on holidays, of course. Walk through is faster, but people seem very respectful of the quiet time during the communion.
The current pastor uses various liturgies for the communion, some long and chanted, some short and spoken, depending on the season and the length of other things in the service. But the important things are there. The less important aspects aren’t dragged out. ie the longwinded pastor we used to have uncovered the communion dishes slooooowly, etc. I don’t think one has to be slow to be reverent.
We do have communion every Sunday, and I think that would be a stretch for your congregation. But I think you should be able to move people to the every other Sunday model. One thing to talk about is the fact that (like your one parish member said) people’s work schedules have changed and they can’t always come on the first Sunday of the month. It’s a hospitality issue, I think. And you might point out that no one HAS to come to communion. We just want to offer it. You might also suggest it for a particular season to start.
Thank you for the comments. I have been thinking about have communion more often since I arrived here, but decided to wait a few years before changing anything that big. I am in my 4th year now and I think I can begin the discussion. I believe the biggest barrier will be with the Altar Guild. They are a aging group and has recently lost some members. We are trying to get some young people involved and even talking to couples (yes…men on Altar Guild).
My home congregation moved to twice a onth communion a few years back but they went to 1st and 2nd Sunday communion to catch those who work every other weekend. I am thinking that could be an option here.
But I like your suggestion, Diane, to talk about hospitality with communion. Also, what about the “stranger” that stops by for worship and expects to receive communion but there is none?
This will be an interesting year.
Eric
The congregation I’m in has had so much variety of literally every aspect of the worship services for so many years that there just doesn’t seem to be any resistance to trying things. There is a worship committee. I don’t think anything is ever dictated or made a big issue of. This makes it nice for each succeeding pastor.
I can’t imagine what it must be like if a church had the same pastor, who ran the show, for a long long time. People would think that even where the pastor stands was dictated in the Bible.
Good luck, just be confident in your suggestions, not afraid of change. But you might ask why something is done a certain way. If there is a good reason, well, consider that. Maybe asking the question will make people realize that somethings are not for a REASON but “just because.”
Very good point. Thank you.
Eric
do you use the individual glasses? I know that is a chore for altar guilds. How about trying intinction for the “other” communion? Or would that seem too weird for them? Also, you could try a standing station rather than kneeling for that one. My husband’s (large) church is still pretty conservative, on Saturday they have communion every week, but on Sunday once a month. HOWEVER, they have started offering communion AFTER the last service always on Sunday. I know this is difficult in a two-point parish, even if Salem was last. If people stayed, it would be a good gauge if this is something people would appreciate celebrating more often.
We service communion continous style with individual cups. Our altar rail area is pretty small so we only use it for services like Maundy Thursday and Ash Wednesday.
Intinction is definitely an idea and would take some work off the altar guild. Thanks for the thought.
As for offering communion after the service…I don’t think that would fly with this crew. Besides I would want to have communion during the regular Sunday worship service.
Thanks for the thoughts. I appreciate the support.
Eric
I don’t think I would care for the idea of offering communion after the worship service. Some how that just doesn’t seem right.
Our home congregation was one that communed only once a month. When our new pastor came several years ago, he increased that to once per month and on all festival days. (even lesser festivals)
Soon we decided that communion every week was a good practice and we adopted that as our norm. There were a few who objected saying that it would make church take too long each week, but even those folks came faithfully to the altar.
I guess making the change in stages helped us out. We made the transition with very little friction between parishioners of differing opinions.
I like the idea of celebrating commmunion on the second Sunday of the month using intinction (to make life a little easier for the altar guild). But I am with you, David, I want to keep communion within the regular worship service. But then again I do visit people during the week and bring them communion “after worship”. Is this any different? I am not sure what the best answer is. I am thinking right now that I will push to do communion on the first Sunday using bread and individual communion cups and intinction on the second Sunday using wafers. My worship committee meets today and we are going to discuss this. I am curious to see what happens.
Eric
So what happened after the meeting?
The worship committee was a little skeptical when I first brought up the idea of twice a month communion, but when I started talking about intinction on the second Sunday, then the idea went over better. I mentioned that I would like to meet with the altar guild later this month. The worship committee DID give me the green light, though. So far so good, but I think before we start doing communion more often I would like to do some education with the congregation first. Some people are still from the old school where you only take communion once a month.