The Sunday after Christmas Day is
traditionally a morning of sparse attendance in churches, but when we entered
the sanctuary at 9:10 a.m. for the 9:15 a.m. service and no one was
there...Well, we thought something might be amiss. Another person entered the
building and said to us, "Did you see the 9:15 time on the internet as
well?" Fortunately, someone else came and told us that the 9:15 and 11:15
had been combined into a 10 a.m. service for that morning, but we were welcome
to join others for coffee. We instead took the time to run home to change the
laundry.
Back at ten, there were pews open to
choose from, but the sanctuary was inhabited, mostly with older folks, but also
a couple of families with kids. The priest began the service with greetings and
informed us that it would be a special service of Lessons and Carols.
"Usually," he said, "the Carols and Lessons don't include
Communion, but we're patching it on. Or rather, I should say, we're patching
Carols and Lessons on to Communion."
I should say something about the
church architecture, which is gorgeous. A flyer included in a bag of welcoming
materials (with mini Snickers - score!) gives information about the art in the
church and the church building itself. The congregation began in 1861, but
building was begun on the present location in 1872. Though Ripley's Believe It
Or Not immortalized the Church of One Tree in Santa Rosa, Incarnation's
original structure was built with two redwood trees. In 1885 the church was
quartered, drawn apart and enlarged, and then survived the 1906 earthquake. The
church building is the oldest church structure in continuous use in Santa Rosa.
One of those uses is ministry and meals to the homeless, including breakfast
every Sunday morning before the first worship service.
It goes without saying (but
apparently not, because here I am saying it), that it was appropriate and cool
that we were celebrating the Incarnation at the church so named.
I was familiar with the choice of
Scriptures, since they were pretty much the ones used at the Christmas Eve
services I attended at First Presbyterian growing up. Something I've noticed
about the reading from Genesis is that people always seem to chuckle
appreciatively when Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the Serpent for the Fall.
Everyone relates to the rebellion that made the Incarnation necessary.
I was struck by how many of the
Carols we sang were of the variety that set Jesus' birth in the setting of a
snowy European village (such as "In the Bleak Midwinter" and
"The Snow Lay on the Ground") but another Carol was quite obviously
set in Canada. "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime" includes such lyrics
as "Within a lodge of broken bark the tender babe was found, a ragged robe
of rabbit skin enwrapped his beauty round" and "The Chiefs from far
before him knelt with gifts of fox and beaver pelt". Fortunately, the
theology of these Carols is far better than the seasonal and geographic
details.
All the Carols were sung from the
Hymnal accompanied by the organ. (Except "O Come All Ye Faithful." It
was played on the organ during communion and people began to hum and then
spontaneously sing.) I enjoyed most all the Carols, but a note for what it's
worth, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" is not at its best accompanied
only by organ sung primarily by Caucasians.
This was the second Sunday in a row
without a sermon, which was okay by Mindy. I'll share her dark secret -- which
readers of this blog should probably be aware of -- she doesn't like sermons.
Her father preaches, and her husband preaches, and she claims to enjoy and
profit from both of our sermons (it seems best for family comity to believe
this and not dig too deeply into the matter). But she often gets restless
during the sermons of others, even other pastors she loves. But Scripture
reading and singing bring her unending delight.
I'm always torn when churches have
"the Passing of the Peace". Only saying "Peace be with you"
to those around you seems rather impersonal at times. But as church pilgrims,
knowing we won't return the next week, impersonal sometimes suits us best.
Service Length: 1 hour 5 minutes
Sermon Length: No sermon
Visitor Treatment: During announcements near the
end of the service, the rector came into the body of the sanctuary, asked
first-time visitors to raise hands and gave each a bag with candy and
information about the church
Our Rough Count: 60
Probable Ushers' Count: 70
Snacks: Coffee, tea,
cookies, pie, yogurt pretzels, crackers with hummus, whole loaves of bread
(seemingly available to take home)
Songs:
"Angels from the Realms of
Glory"
"In the Bleak Midwinter"
"Comfort, Comfort Ye My
People"
"Lo, How a Rose e'er
Blooming"
"Twas in the Moon of
Wintertime"
"The Snow Lay on the
Ground"
"Of the Father's Love
Begotten"
"Go Tell It on the
Mountain"
-- Dean
