Church of the Holy Rubbermaid revisited ...

I'm glad the sun is shining today, and it is warm ... it helps my weary body recover from the events of Holy Week ...

At the best of times, Holy Week is an enormous amount of work, but in the last two years Holy Week for Minnedosa United Church has taken on a more epic scale of activity ...

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were busy with the normal day to day activities in the office, and the additional pressure of having to prepare, print and fold bulletins for FOUR worship services over the Holy Weekend. (Our Secretary Elaine did a masterful job).

Then on Thursday a blur of activities began ... Our Maundy Thursday Service was being held in the chapel of the local Funeral Home. The rubber maid tubs of hymnbooks, and the other assorted necessities for worship had to be loaded in the van, driven to the Chapel, and unloaded ...

When the service ended, the rubber maid tubs had to be reloaded in the van so that they could be taken to the other Chapel for use the next morning ...

Then on Sunday morning the whole process was repeated with the local elementary School being the place where our preparations were being made ...

We arrvied at 8:30 in the morning to a space set up with chairs and little else ... the AOTS Mens' Club set to work setting up for Breakfast. Meanwhile, myself and two members of the congregation began setting up tables, laying out the worship banners, decorations, candles and other assorted items in preparation for the 9am Service ... When the service began we enlisted the help of one of our congregants to play piano for our hymns (saying "thanks" just doesn't seem to be enough) ... It was hectic but worthwhile ...

Then at 11, we gathered again to worship. And when the worship service ended and everyone headed home the rubbermaid tubs were once again loaded in the van and returned to our temporary home at St Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church ...

Today my knees are aching from the lifting of the heavy tubs of hymn books, my arms and back are sore ... but like our Jewish sisters and brothers who spent CENTURIES in the diaspora praying fervently "Next year in Jerusalem," my aches and pains are tempered by the sure and certain hope that next year we will be HOME. And for Holy Week next year, I won't have to move any heavy tubs of hymn books to prepare for worship services in three very different places, with all the scurrying around it entails ...

Next year our worship services will be help in one place, under one roof ... in a new building we will joyously call HOME.

Being the Church of the Holy Rubbermaid Tubs has been interesting and at times fun ... but it won't be a chapter in my ministry I will sorely miss ... I might miss it sorely though !!

Blessings this Easter Season ... and may you know the power of the Resurrection !!