Last Sunday I did my first "real" preaching.
This time it was at Community Church UU in New Orleans.
Immediately afterward I raced across the lake to attend an "Annual Budget Drive" meeting near Covington. That lasted until 4PM, then I drove home via Slidell, made bacon and eggs for dinner (I hadn't really had breakfast) and wrote a bit in my journal.
The snapshot is from my video of the service. I don't have the heart to watch it with sound, though I think it went well. Something about seeing and hearing myself on camera needs a bit more distance from the event. So I skipped around, and found a few places where I looked up instead of down at the podium.
The service included two rituals-- very unusual for Unitarian Universalist services. One is a ritual of combining waters brought from home, or from a trip, or some other life event. Each person gets to say where their water is from, and why the source is important to them.
We had stories of strokes, and trips to Canada and one about "the unpleasantness" as Katrina is often called (very sarcastically). I got to learn quite a bit about the 30 or so people who shared their water. It was very heartwarming.
The second ritual was to use that water to bless the hands of the teachers, recognizing the importance of their job in guiding our children. That ritual was not so smooth, but it went 'OK'-- in my opinion.
I have a committee of seven congregants drawn from the three congregations who will guide and evaluate me. Five of them were at the service. I talked to three of them, and they said generally positive things. I have lots of polishing to do! We will have a meeting in early October to share feedback.
One important note:
The New Orleans Saints were playing in the Superdome... game time 12 Noon! My service went over 10 minutes, to 12:10... Well, they missed the kick-off! (unless they have TIVO!)
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