The First Sunday in a new church is always interesting, especially if you are not just a guest but are going to preach and pastor for a period of time at this congregation. So this Sunday was my first Sunday in the pulpit at my interim two point charge. It was also the first Sunday of the month and thus communion at each church, and of course, each church did it differently.

Why did we ever use those little bitty wafers that are as dry as hot sand?

Of course, the communion steward at one church was sick so a last minute phone call to another lay member who graciously filled in. But I discovered after I had served communion that no one had grape juice so it was flat grape Fanta® from the refrigerator that they had poured into the little communion cups. (Is it theologically appropriate to say YUCK!?)

At each church people were dressed informally as I was the only male in a suit and tie, but the churches are as different as night and day. One has incredible singing, the other uses taped music off the internet and the “old” praise book published by Zondervan. One has about a dozen “children,” the other had more children than adults in worship, a great problem to have but it doesn’t always produce “income.” One church has a lot of professional folks and the other church is full of “salt of the earth” working class. One church has a “huge” Wednesday night program, the other a small Bible study on Wednesday night. As different as they are, they are less than five miles from each other as the crow flies. The driving is another thing. They have been on a charge together for many, many years and found a way to work together. Isn’t that cool!

I look forward to the next six months with them as they prepared for the first full-time elder since they were a four point charge back in the early 1970’s. I'll be sharing my experiences with you on this new adventure.