interlude

Hi little world of mine!

Scott and I had a wonderful trip last week!

A long time ago… 17 years to be exact… MCC Omaha moved in to the building where we now meet.  The partner of the man who was the pastor of MCC Omaha at the time was a master carpenter (hmmmm….)  In honor and “for the greater glory of God” of the occasion, he built MCC Omaha a beautiful altar and matching pulpit.  It served our congregation well for a long time.  But about 4 years ago, our worship style started to change from a “high church” type of service with lots of liturgy, and where liturgy was prime, to a bit of a “lower church” setting… namely a service where worship took on a different role, with less focus on the liturgy.

The need for a large altar and pulpit lessened… we needed a smaller altar.  And we no longer needed a pulpit at all.  Our pastor prefers not to preach from a pulpit but to walk out amongst the congregation.  I digress.  The stately altar and pulpit were dismantled by myself and a couple of helpers, and found it’s way in to storage… split up between church facilities and Scott’s and my storage unit.  We (the church collectively) set out to find a new home for this furniture.

Eventually, a new home was found in Great Falls, Montana.  There is a long line of support between the two locations – Omaha and Great Falls – and the two cities have shared heritages.  Both are on the Missouri River, both were visited by, and have interest in, the Lewis & Clark expedition.  But, of course, there was a problem.  The two units were VERY large, and VERY heavy.  While each could be broken down into 4 pieces, each piece required two persons to carry it (ok, 4 of the pieces can be carried by 1 person, but just barely!)  How do 2 financially strapped congregations get these units to their new home?  The answer was to be personal delivery!

And so, on Sunday, June 21, the 8 pieces of the altar and pulpit came together one last time.  Pastor Tom preached a final sermon that Sunday from the stately pulpit.  He pounded on it as any good fire and brimstone preacher ought… and promptly startled himself by the noise!  Then, Wednesday night (June 24th), at our weekly ReCharge! service, we gathered to dedicate these two items to a new purpose, the service of a sister congregation.  At communal prayer time, we prayed for the intentions, not of our own people, but of the wonderful people of Great Falls.  At communion, we went forward, received communion, then each, one at a time, walked up and laid hands first on the altar, then on the pulpit.  Our pastor anointed the altar and the pulpit, and then anointed 4 individuals, Scott, Carla, Sharon and myself.  And finally we read from 1 Thessalonians… in a slightly different way:

Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians .. No!  MCC Omaha, to the church in Montana, MCC Montana… in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

After the service, the altar and pulpit were once again dismantled, and each piece lovingly wrapped in plastic.  They were loaded on to Scott’s and my truck, and 2 pieces were loaded on to Carla & Sharon’s truck.

On Thursday morning, Scott, Carla, Sharon and I set off to drive the 1100 miles to Great Falls, Montana.  It was a BEAUTIFUL trip.  Hot, of course.  Humid, oh yes!  At least until we arrived in Sheridan, Wyoming, where we spent the night.  From then on the humidity was less potent.

The drive itself was unremarkable.  We made good time.  We encountered no storms… which was good.  Because though wrapped lovingly in plastic, that plastic did not survive the ravages of wind!  Before we even got out of Iowa into South Dakota, the plastic on those items packed in our truck was shredded, flapping in the wind!

In Sheridan, we covered the truck bed with a tarp.  It lasted exactly 1/2 of a mile before blowing off.  We stopped, retied it, better this time.  And by the time we’d arrived in Billings, Montana, the tarp too was shredded.  And it was beginning to rain.  So, we stopped in at the Home Depot, and I bought the super duper ultra heavy duty vinyl tarp.  That made it about 50 miles up the road before IT TOO was shredded!  Fortunately, we encountered no more rain, and everything and everyone arrived safely in the church in Montana.

Saturday morning, we unloaded, reassembled the altar and pulpit.  Then, we went sight-seeing!

Sunday we attended worship with our new friends.  We assisted in their own “setting the altar” ceremony, a very moving ceremony to me.  As we began the service, both the altar and the pulpit were barren.  Then, their worship leader read the following as each item was processed in by a member of the congregation:

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The altar linens are red, because red is a color of celebration and passion.  We remember the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ as we celebrate and accept the generous gift given in love by our friends in Omaha.

The candles used in the first services of MCC in Great Falls were these stained glass replica candle holders.  We bring these to this altar in order to remember our roots and where we came from. [Note from Eric – this is where I started tearing up]

The original cup and plate used in MCC Great Falls were these simple pottery pieces.  They are now cracked and chipped and remind us of the wandering in the desert of our spiritual ancestors.  Their temple tent was packed up and moved and reset at each new camp.  Our church met in the Performing Arts Center and each Sunday everything had to be unpacked and set up and at the close of service, it all had to be re-packed, much like the Israelites did in the desert.

The crystal cups are a blessing from a couple in this church who dared to dream that some day, we would have a better church building and then persevered and realized this dream when we moved in to this building.

[At this time, a faint drumming could be heard.] From our Native American sisters and brothers we bring forth a drum.  This helps us to keep centered and balanced spiritually.

The eagle feather symbolizes spiritual vision in the Native tradition.  Let this remind us of our dreams for this church and its outreach to everyone who has been left out of other spiritual traditions.

The sage smudge is to ask for protection over this altar, pulpit, building and congregation.  The old altar is smudged first and then the new altar to help transfer the spiritual balance to the new altar.  These two altars will share the same spiritual energy.

[For those who might not know, smudging is akin to incensing… Steven, a member of their congregation, and a member of the Blackfeet tribe, came forward with another man who was carrying an abalone shell with sweet sage burning in it.  Steven used an eagle feather to “fluff’” or smudge the smoke from the burning sage towards the old altar (set up in the back of the church)  then towards the congregation as they processed up, and then, on arriving in front of the church, all around the new altar and the new pulpit.]

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And then at noon, we immediately started the trip home.

We drove until midnight, arriving in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  Monday, we left at 8 a.m., and arrived at church at 5:30, in time to attend our CLM class.

And that’s the end… except this is all interlude!

Tomorrow, Scott and I are driving to Branson, Missouri, for the Hays Family Reunion!

I sure hope to blog from there!