Social Connections Maintained at Church – the Programme

... an apple tree in need of pruning ...

I am in the cohort of people who should not attend large gatherings until COVID-19 is safely under control.

Until that time comes, here is one thing I will miss about not going to church: I will miss the programme being handed to me at the door.

I like that piece of paper for many reasons.

I scan it to see if there is a Primary Party to which I can bring my grandchildren.

I look for announcements about the English as a Second Language Programme, since my friend, Sumindra Rana, likes to attend that class.

I look to see if the addictions programmes are running. I think about the brave people who attend addiction classes.

I notice which Primary children are giving talks.

I look at the names of people are assigned to give the opening and closing prayers.  I think it is nice to know ahead if I am going to give a communal prayer.  And I wonder what has gone through the minds of the people who have that assignment.  I wonder if they have thoughts similar to what I might have had.

.. a lazy wasp on a daisy ...

Once I get settled into my pew, I write on that programme: notes about the time of a funeral I want to attend; the phonetic spelling of someone’s name I want to remember; a stat I want to check or an idea I wanted to carry home with me.

I look at the party announcements: Young Adults, Adults from Aged 30 to 45, Older People, the monthly Thursday lunch, ward parties, stake parties, regional parties, all somewhere in fine print on the announcement sheet.

There is not that much room on the programme. I use spaces between the names of people giving talks and and those performing musical mnumbers for some of my notes.

... daisies in the meadow ...

Then I write up and down and around the margins of the programme, and finally use any white space on the cover.

I look for the name of the person who physically gathered all of that announcement material onto one 8 ½” x 11” space, finding their email address hidden in small print, inviting suggestions for next week’s programme. 

A nod of silent thanks always goes from me to the person who owns that email address – a lot of work.

Yes. I am going to miss holding that piece of paper in my hand in the coming months.

Arta