Our gathering culture is so different from what we took for granted when we bought into the values of the institutional church. Yesterday was a very unusual day that could have been a crisis if we did the clergy/laity thing but, as it turned out, was just a weird day for us.
My phone rang at the very moment the last people were arriving. My dad, who can barely use a phone, was calling, saying mom was sick and he needed me to come to their condo immediately. She was experiencing abdominal pain so intense that she couldn't use the phone. I called my brother to see if he could check up on them but he was out of the house.
So, I explained to the people gathered and left--without a thought or concern about what would happen in my absence.
After I arrived at my parents', probably about an hour later Evelyn called on behalf of the gathering to see how things were going. They had stopped the meeting, before taking communion, to check in.
My brother actually made it to mom and dad's shortly after I arrived. We strenuously encouraged mom to call 911 because her symptoms were similar to those of a heart attack in women and there is lots of heart disease in her family.
In the end, we extracted from her the promise that she would call 911 if the pain returned and to call her doctor Monday morning if not. We checked on her repeatedly throughout the remainder of the day and again this morning.
All that said, the gathering was, based on what I have heard, uneventful in my absence.
One concern I have about the direction the church today is going is that it is expanding the clergy/laity distinction. And, to do so, abuses the spirit of what Jesus did.
My goal, which I believe I am achieving, is to make active priests of all of us.
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