Ahh, Sunday morning. I love attending Cross Point Church. In addition to them not having the mysterious “e” at the end of “Point” they’ve got Pete Wilson in the pulpit. It’s really not a pulpit so much as it is a small round table. That doesn’t sound nearly as dramatic though does it? “They’ve got Pete Wilson behind the small round table.”
I’m sticking with pulpit. But I love him as a pastor and the whole team is great as well. Plus, we meet in an old school church that has pews. It’s like the best of both worlds, modern worship meets 1950s pew style seating, lasers meet liturgy, sermon video trailer meets classic fill in the blank sermon notes.
This is a great church, I’ve even gotten used to the order of service. It’s different from North Point, my former church, but I’m down. I’ve figured it out. I get it.
And here comes the offering. They prefer the every other approach to bucket distribution. I do too. You get to guess which direction it will come from as the ushers pass it down one aisle and it u-turns down the next. It reminds me of when I was growing up and by law you could only sing even or odd verses in hymns. It was always, “Sing the 1st and 3rd verses” or “Sing the 2nd and 4th verse.” I never once heard someone say, “Sing verses 1, 2 and 4. Skip verse 3. That one is horrible.”
But wait, what’s this? I’ve got a new silver bucket coming down my aisle and so does the aisle in front of me. And the lady in front is handing me another bucket. I’ve now got two buckets in my hand. I’ll pass the bucket and give them to the guy behind me. Oh no, he’s already got a bucket and refused delivery of these two. I’m double fisting offering buckets, which doesn’t look like I’m twice as generous. It looks like I’m about to bolt with them and spend the cash on pretty things.
Think Jon, think! Maybe I have super hero powers now. Is that possible? These buckets are all metal and they seem to be oddly attracted to me. Is this how Magneto figured out his power? That would be way cooler than the other super hero power I often wish I had, “The ability to instantly figure out the hot and cold water faucets in hotel showers.” That one is kind of obscure.
It could just be a rookie usher. First time on the job. Probably paired with an usher that’s been on the force for 30 years and is only one Sunday away from retirement. He’s too old for this nonsense! Or maybe they decided to change the flow of the buckets forever. They went from every other row to every row. That’s a big change. Was there an announcement? Was this change heralded in the bulletin last week? Did Pete make an announcement from stage? Was there a class I could have attended in the weeks leading up to this? Is there going to be an old school every other row church service offered like how some churches add “contemporary services?”
Should I be focused on worship instead of weaving intricate thoughts about the row pattern the ushers are using to deploy the offering buckets? Probably.
Question:
Has a small change at church, in music, order of the service, etc. ever thrown you for a loop?
