Field Notes #2: Sittin' on the Dock of the Lake (First Sunday/Pentecost!)

If I look up from my laptop right now, this is what I see:


Guys, my field placement is sweet. Not only am I living at a sweet lake house before moving into my own newly renovated space right next to the church, the folks at HCUMC are wonderful. I was a little nervous at church this morning, eager to meet the congregation but still a little antsy about the whole thing, but I felt like almost every single congregation member came up and introduced themselves to me this morning, telling me how excited they are for me to be there and offering all sorts of assistance. I've got folks who want to take me out on jet skis, a private detective offering to help keep an eye on me when I move into the parsonage, and tons of people feeding me--I already got taken out to lunch today. Tonight, we had a "pounding" (my boyfriend hates the term, understandably), and people brought various foods and a number of gift cards to Wal-Mart and other grocery stores, as well as gift certificates to a local grill. They even passed around a sign-up sheet for people to take me to or cook me lunch or dinner throughout the summer. I am getting taken care of for real. I've even met my twin (I have a 7th-grade doppelganger named Maddie) and got recruited to the softball team.

Anyway, needless to say, the pounding was great fun. But I haven't even talked about church this morning. Today is Pentecost. Happy Birthday, Church!! Today was the last Sunday of two worship services (9:00 and 10:00) at Hill's Chapel UMC, which I was glad I got to experience. The Family Life Center (where worship is being held while the new sanctuary is being built) was wonderfully decorated with red for the occasion--vestments, streamers, geraniums, you name it.

The first service has a bit more of a contemporary feel--Art plays drums and we get a few praise choruses. I led the call to worship and sang with the lead singers. Between services, I sat in on an adult Sunday School class, and at 11 I sang with the choir. I'm really looking forward to getting more involved with music and worship at HCUMC. Their worship director, Jeana Borman, also serves as accompanist and vocal coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University, so she's great.

I also really appreciated Pastor Val's sermon this morning. She preached from Acts 2:1-20, the narrative of the first Pentecost. One thing she said that stuck with me referred to verse 13, where, witnessing the excitement of the disciples as suddenly they are able to understand the languages of people from far and wide proclaiming God's power, "others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’" Pastor Val said, "They weren't drunk on new wine; they were new wine." She referenced Mark 2:22, where Jesus points out that new wine must be put into new wineskins; old wineskins will burst. The Holy Spirit, Pastor Val said, was doing a new thing on that first Pentecost, which proclaimed that the church was not for any one people, race, culture or language, but was to deliver the Gospel to all nations.

So yeah, I'd say I had a good first Sunday. :)