December 24th, 2007 – Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

There have been so many gifts in the past week that the congregation members have given one another. Simply being with people in worship reminded me of who they were and what they gave Creator this past year.

I appreciated Ron at the early service greeting us with the lighted hat he traditionally wears. Then there was Dave at the late service with his plush Santa’s hat bringing joy to those around him. There was also the festive beauty of the sanctuary space transformed once again since the last Advent service.

This service the special music covered a broad musical spectrum. The Dobbes treated us to a cover of Relient K’s I Celebrate the Day. Kim and Vaune offered us Salve Regina and Do You hear the Mother? with their wonderful tight harmonies; the choir sang Gloria with Lux Venit, Emmanuel and Kelly’s Nunc Dimmitus; Kelly and Geoff as a duet reprised the warm, comforting Pietro A. Yon’s Gesu Bambino; and Clare Brauer-Rieke sang two pieces, O Holy Night accompanied by her father and Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven accompanied by David, as gentle prayers on this holy night.

Pastor Mark gave the Christmas Message at the early service and Pastor Dayle gave hers at the 11:00 service. Both talked about the traditions, the busy pieces and the holy pieces of the season.

Singing the traditional carols recreated and communicated the spirit of the season like it has each year. Silent Night allowed us all to enter into that special moment where the candlelight from each candle, the voices of those close to us, the place where this is shared and our God both near and beyond all blend together.

December 21st and 22nd – Agnus Dei and the Production Party Annie & Vaune hosted

The Creator community celebrated.

Agnus Dei is a Christmas Cantata and musical journey where the total worship experience humbles and highlights the individual contributions made. On both nights Kelly’s gave a final to the choir, and included it in the prayer just before we went on, was to remember move our concentration from the sheet music to connect with the audience and communicate the joy of this music.

The choir took that to heart. I know I missed a few notes in parts I had not memorized as well but I could feel a difference. Again this was a musical journey and the ensemble of musicians, Kelly, David, Esther, Geoff gave it substance and made it shine.

The dancers gave riveting performances. Their dance demanded attention due to Sara’s choreography. The narrators gave us the familiar story with drama and made it new. The children, particularly on Thursday with Holy Family Fellowship when there were costumes, looked great and sang their songs and touched our hearts.

The soloists made individual moments these two nights their own. The choir never ceases to amaze. Kelly’s direction, the practice and the rehearsals come together and this beautiful sound we can not make individually but that we contribute to, pours into each choir performance.

There were so many other contributions it is hard to detail. The banners and the stage, organizing, rehearsing and cueing the children all came together in very special ways.

The Production Party afterwards was a social event we appreciated that night. Annie and Vaune were gracious, the food and conversation could not be beat. I was impressed with all the instruments displayed at Vaune’s including a bowed psaltery, an instrument I had not heard of before which reminded me a bit of a hammer dulcimer.

You could feel the enjoyment in the group of being in one another’s company. It was a great end to a great evening.

December 5th, 2007 – Desire

It is the first Advent Wednesday service. The Holden Evening prayer is so often, for so many of us, an extraordinary worship experience. After many recent moments of feeling deep community my expectations run high for this Wednesday but, there is little sense of community in my heart when the evening is through. During worship we are invited to take words to meditate and reflect on for the upcoming week. The word I receive to reflect on, after lighting a candle at the altar, is desire.

A double-edged word. It is part of the second Noble Truth of Buddhism: desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. Desire also describes our deepest longing. How does desire relate to Advent? It is an interesting word to ponder as this Wednesday unfolds.

I fight personal desire and longing for the community tonight. Throughout the evening I find I take offhand comments in the wrong spirit, even recognize it as being wrong at the time. My interactions with people feel off. There is one moment that is not like this, which I won’t describe here, but for the most part I stumble around with the wrong attitude.

In worship Pastor Mark preaches a poem he has composed for Creator called Ode to Advent. The rhymes he uses work and Pastor Mark ties the shallow and deeper perceptions of this season we are in together using those rhymes. An interesting idea he pulls off well. I feel very self-concious during the service which is not what I want to feel at all.

Choir practice is more of the same stumbling craziness. It is funny how esteem can get twisted. We practice Kelly’s Nunc Dimittis and I, as I have many times in the past, play the triangle. It adds to the piece but there is a standard half-tease to the acknowledgement of the minor nature of this additional part. It has become a bit of fun ritual for us all now, yet I feel an embarrassment surge up this evening. Memories of mistakes and muffed performances suddenly emerge. What changes the heart and feelings of worth so dramatically?

Then the free-floating guilt comes. “I should, I could do more.” “It would be better if I only I would behave like … or be interested in ….” “Why am I feeling this way? I know better than this.”

It was hard to focus on all the good things that happened, and good things happened. The announcement of Craig's successful hip replacement. Many of the soloists for the cantata became official. Phil, Janice, Craig, Marlowe were all chosen and will do fantastic performances, I know.

My temptation is keep this personal bad attitude night out of the blog because this is not what I want to acknowledge in myself. It hurts my pride. I want to blame something outside of myself. My inward desire is to rise above all this by will or reason instead of trusting what is good and true through Jesus.

I know in my heart the truth but something happens within me on nights like these. I put this in the blog as confession and for the sake of honesty.

October 24th, 2007 - Harvest Festival and Choir

The Harvest Festival at Creator is a party for children with many adults taking the opportunity to dress as farmers, nuns, Raggedy Ann, soldiers, motor bikers and other ingenious costumes. The kid’s costumes were even more varied and well-thought out. I arrived at the height of the festivities. There were many activities from golf to “flubber” making. Paul was pressing fresh apple juice. Everyone was having a great time.

The choir scheduled a quick rehearsal afterwards to go over the music for next Sunday. All Are Welcome continues to be a problem for some members because of the odd page turns the music forces you to make. We ran through God is Our Refuge And Strength and two other pieces of music that will be part of Sunday service.

Some choir members were a little uncertain and thought that we should rehearse them more but we should be ready for Sunday.

June 28th, 2007 - Choir Rehearsal

The joy and the tears were both present as the choir practiced music for Bethany's service. Kelly summed it up well:

There may be times when any of us could lose ourselves in a sorrow of the moment. When that happens there are others to pick up the performance.

We worked through each well-chosen piece, with new well-thought-out words to two. There was time and attention paid to details, to make it right. Toni chose Blest Be The Ties That Bind to recognize the community response that had come to mean so much to her and the family.

Each piece resonated as we rehearsed them but for this evening this simple hymn, as we were gathered with our voices bound together in harmony, caught the spirit behind this rehearsal. When it became a capella (and tonight the translation from Italian of those words 'in the style of the chapel' took on a new meaning for me) the pure simplicity of the sound carried the music and the moment deep within our hearts.

Kelly's Nunc Dimittis stood out tonight as well. Kelly framed the moment these words are uttered - Simeon led a devout life and was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour. Mary and Joesph brought their baby temple for the ceremony of consecration of the firstborn son and Simeon knows this is what he has waited for. He takes Jesus into his arms and prays the Nunc Dimittis. He knows there is no other experience he needs in this life beyond seeing the Saviour.

Later, as Kelly led us in prayer to close the evening, he prayed regarding an elation, energy and beauty that some may experience at Saturday's service because they glimpsed God in a special way through Bethany's presence in their lives.

Bethany was there in our minds and hearts tonight.