October 5th – First Sunday of Pastor Dayle's Return from Sabbatical

It was a homecoming for Pastor Dayle and Creator. Many came to worship today and Spiritworks Team Light took care of the assigned volunteer positions. Father Al and Pastor Mary took part in the service together with Pastor Dayle.

There were glad shouts throughout the service (a younger member at times shouting "yea!") and Susan thanked Pastor Mary and Father Al for their help and guidance during the sabbatical.

The music was strong, the selections meaningful and the pieces tied into the readings together with the hymn of the day, O Christ the Same, which Pastor Dayle chose because it associated to her sabbatical.

Sometimes you can sense a vitality that flowers out to and from where we stand. Invitation and acceptance and some inkling of the depth of man's capacity for life is felt and understood. Today's service pointed to that. It felt like a whole service where no one part dominated the other. The volunteer work, liturgy, music, sermon, and communion all blended into a seamless reaching up, reaching in and reaching out.

Pastor Dayle reminded the children about the M&Ms she gave to them the last Sunday before her sabbatical. She wanted them to think about mission & ministry during her time away. Many at Creator thought about mission and ministry. Part of the reading from Isaiah described the vineyard yielding wild grapes and not the grapes that were expected. Wild grapes signify injustice and Pastor Dayle asked us to reflect on what we are neglecting and misusing in the vineyard that could produce wild grapes.

During the offering I was struck by some beautiful gestures of intimacy and endearment. Little familiar touches that showed how much one person cared for another.

The service ended with the congregation singing Build Us Up, Lord. I heard many humming the song as we left the sanctuary. There was a bright, shiny power in the way David performed it that was picked up on in the singing.

We discussed food with Care of Creation after the service. Vera brought up many interesting facts. The congregation is not of one mind about what those statistics reflect. Al summed up what some in the congregation thought during the presentation when he said he was a child of this society he was born into. He likes the convenience and to start changing his purchasing habits he would ned to have strong reasons why. That was what Vera was trying to provide in this session.

We talked about farms, land, food, overproduction and concerns about some corporations. Mary and I bought a book that publicizes work that some researchers have done in this area.

I am looking forward to more of the Care of Creation Adult Education series.