Because I left town on Monday for Colorado, I wasn't able to get Sunday's blog up sooner.
This past Sunday on Father's Day, worship was at Washington Hills UMC in Chattanooga, TN. It is off Bonny Oaks Drive and not too far from where we live in Hixson. It was one of the three churches on my "to visit" list. Pastor Bobby Black and his wife Lisa are very dear folks to me and though I've been there in the past to hear Lisa preach (Certified Lay Speaker), I haven't had the privilege to hear Bobby.
Riley and I arrived about 15 minutes early to the church for the 11am service. We were greeted warmly by a kind woman who turned out to be the organist. When I say we were greeted "warmly", that's just the beginning of our experience, both in hospitality and temperature.
You see, the air conditioning unit there was not working. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Unfortunately for them, they had just spent money getting it serviced too. But that wasn't going to deter us from worship that morning. We went on in, found a seat, and settled in. It was warm. But not hot. Folks started streaming in. Electric fans were brought in. Hand held fans were already in the pews. I found one, just in case.
As folks came in and noticed us, they greeted us warmly, welcoming us into their home of worship and into their community.
The service began a little after 11am due to the situation with the air, but it didn't deter the primary focus for the gathering-- to worship God, the Creator. That was evident throughout the entire worship experience.
People chose to worship that morning (into the afternoon). They chose to stay. They chose to not allow the lack of air conditioning to take away their focus of worship, praise, or prayer. It was a wonderful worship time.
Out of curiosity, I checked the time when Pastor Bobby began the message. It was 12:07pm. I chuckled to myself, thinking that in some places folks may not be as willing to continue being in a building with no air conditioning for this amount of time, with the sermon just now beginning.
A little earlier in the service, Pastor Bobby had leaned over to a choir member, maybe the leader, and she had come out of the choir area. He then mentioned that in a few minutes, cold water would be offered to everyone in the congregation. Sure enough, within a little while, a brigade of women came down the aisles with cups and pitchers of ice cold water and began passing out water to everyone who wanted it. I don't think anyone refused the fresh cold water. What a beautiful act of hospitality and warm welcome to members and guests alike. What a Christ-like gesture of offering a drink of cold water to those in need.
It became even more significant when a man two rows behind us later thanked the congregation for taking him in many years ago when he moved into this community. He mentioned that this congregation had helped him assimilate and was there to offer him a cup of water when he needed it most. He had a relative visiting him from South Sudan that day and introduced her. What a blessing to see ministry of love in action.
Another blessing was to see Pastor Bobby's daughter there that day and to have the opportunity to talk with her a few moments after the service. I had felt "nudged" to give her a holding cross back a couple of years during her treatment days. Lisa introduced me to Celeste as the one who sent that to her. Celeste explained to me that the cross was passed along to a brave young 12 year old battling cancer. Wow. It was a beautiful and powerful moment to hear how prayer and the prayer cross had moved. Celeste was another blessing in that congregation of ministry of love in action as that congregation (and others) had prayed for her and the family.
A few things about the music that morning. There was a song "Anointing" sung by the choir during a time when folks could go to the altar and pray. That was powerful. This was in the preparation part of the worship service prior to the message. After the congregation prayed, the choir came down to the altar together to pray. That was a new song for me. It was POWERFUL! It is by Donn Thomas and found in the African American Heritage Hymnal, #318.
Anointing fall on me Anointing fall on me Let the power Of the Holy Ghost Fall on me Anointing fall on me
Touch my hands my mouth And my heart Fill my life Lord Every part Let the power Of the Holy Ghost Fall on me Anointing fall on me
On me let the power Of the Holy Ghost Fall on me Anointing fall on me Anointing fall on me
Another powerful song that I did recognize was "Every Praise". I recognized that right away as a Hezekiah Walker song. Oh, what a blessing it was to hear that song and to join in. I thought the roof might be blown off. And if it had, that wouldn't have been a bad thing.☺ Well, then the church would need money for a roof AND the air conditioning.
Lyrics:
Every praise is to our God
Every word of worship with one accord
Every praise every praise is to our God
Sing hallelujah to our God
Glory hallelujah is due our God
Every praise every praise is to our God
God my Savior
God my Healer
God my Deliverer
Yes He is, yes He is
Yes He is, yes He is [repeat]
Every praise is to our God.
Every word of worship with one accord
Every praise every praise [repeat]
Is to our God
From the music, to the prayers, to the message that Bobby brought, to the meeting and greeting of folks in that community, it was a very special and wonderful warm worship that morning!
Oh, in case you're wondering. It was around 1pm when we finished worship. But folks didn't bolt out the door. They lingered. They spoke to each other. You'd think they would rush to their air conditioned cars (or Gold Wing as was the case for one gentleman) and leave, right? No. Some were huddled around inside the church. Others outside in the even hotter temperature. Folks had gathered in community to truly worship that morning and the heat wasn't going to deter their focus. What a wonderful blessing it was for us as visitors into their community.
Blessings on your journey! May there be some wonderful warm worship along the way,
Debra
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