A new recognition

Today in church a relatively new priest to the congregation, the chaplain at the local air force base, chanted the Eucharistic Prayer. It was wonderful. He's as good as my very favorite priest (you all know who that is). After the service I told him his presence in the service helped me miss home a bit less. He asked where I was from and told me he knows exactly what I meant. Seems he's buds with the IL priest.

Anyway, until today I would have said that my biggest pet peeve durig the worship service is people who carry on conversations during the service. I truly believe that if you need to talk, you should be respectful and take it out of the nave. Tody, I discovered that an even greater pet peeve is people who mock the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer!

A family who routinely arrives late with three kids in tow--two in high school and one in grade school--seems to believe that the worship service is a social hour. Unfortunately they almost always sit within a few pews of me and chat away. The parents are as bad as the kids. I just don't understand. What is the purpose of attending church? You can stay home and chat with each other. But I guess if you do that then you miss out on the entertainment in the sanctuary which provides such fodder for mockery!!!

Yes, I am incensed. There was truly no excuse for this behavior. Small children talking through a service can't learn a more appropriate way to behave unless they are taught better behavior through modeling and repetition. You have to bring them to church to teach them to behave respectfully in church. I get that. However, this was the high schoolers. And Dad was sitting right next to them the whole time.

Whether their problem with the priest stemmed from their lack of exposure to chanting the prayer, their lack of exposure to someone who knows how the chant the prayer, the fact he is black, or anything else does not matter. It disrupts the service and is disrespectful.

Wish someone would appoint me the verger. Then I'd be able to bop them with a big stick.