St. Paul's

This morning I’ll head into the rain for a five-minute walk to the local parish Reformed Church, called St. Paul’s. I won’t give you the whole name of the church. Way too long. Every Tuesday morning it hosts 30 minutes of prayer,

For the last 15 years I’ve been going to Bible studies and prayers in that church. There will be 5 or 6 ladies there, most well into their 80’s. My pastor friend Roger leads the meeting. There’s a $400,000.00 dollar organ and a paid organist.

Everything starts with the organ. Then a printed introduction and the singing of a hymn (with piano). A reading from the Psalms. Variation on a hymn (piano only). New Testament reading. Classical piece (piano). Short commentary on the second passage. Silence. Hymn (with piano). Responsive prayer reading. Spontaneous prayer (sometimes). Lord’s prayer. Blessing. Organ.

Recently, Roger told me there was a rebellion among the organists. In one of the monthly, 30 minute worship times, the group had decided on less organ, more prayer. The organists rebelled. Less playing time means less cash. Less cash means unhappy organists. His conclusion on a down day, “The church is run by money.”

Guess we need more prayer.