A chill creeps into the air.\u00a0\u00a0School buses zip through neighborhoods ferrying youngsters to school.\u00a0\u00a0The peak of summer is a fading memory, a languid dream sandwiched between academic semesters. For students, homework now begins to pile up.\u00a0\u00a0Marching bands drum and play outdoors as football players practice tackling each other in adjacent fields.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many churches, in a normal year, the summer doldrums would also be over.\u00a0\u00a0Attendance picks up dramatically. Sunday school resumes. The senior pastor is back from vacation.\u00a0\u00a0The summer musicians have disbanded and the \u201cA Team\u201d choir or praise team is back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, in 2020, these normal rhythms have been disrupted.\u00a0\u00a0Virtuality is the norm in many places, including the church.\u00a0\u00a0In my virtual church playlist for this week, I have decided to simulate the end of summer by adding some special musical touches, particularly the thrilling hymn \u201cCrown Him With Many Crowns\u201d, and the opening brass and organ duo performing \u201cThe Prince of Denmark March\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0I picture the service beginning with a full choir in procession.\u00a0\u00a0In the churches that go for \u201chigh church\u201d ceremony, the incense is back, and we see the processional cross sticking out above billowing clouds of rose scented smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I pray you will enjoy the virtual service.\u00a0\u00a0May you be edified by this week\u2019s Scripture readings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A chill creeps into the air.\u00a0\u00a0School buses zip through neighborhoods ferrying youngsters to school.\u00a0\u00a0The peak of summer is a fading memory, a languid dream sandwiched between academic semesters. For students, homework now begins to pile up.\u00a0\u00a0Marching bands drum and play outdoors as football players practice tackling each other in adjacent fields.\u00a0\u00a0 In many churches, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1193,677,853],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-covid-19","tag-feasts-and-seasons","tag-summer"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2753,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/2753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}