I’ve come to my desk with my stomach churning this morning, because I know I have to focus on getting something written and still do a variety of other things before we get to lunchtime. Today is the first time that representatives of this church community will go and offer worship in a Care Home. I’m not overly concerned about it, as it is something I’ve done elsewhere, although I realised as I woke this morning that I’ve forgotten to ask a major question. Is there a piano in the room we are using? I have a pianist coming with us, and we definitely need a piano as my voice is a little rough from constant use at the moment. That concern will be easily resolved come 10am, as I can phone then and ask. Once I’ve worked out whether they have or not, I’ll then need to resolve a possible situation and go and pick up some hymnbooks for this afternoon.

However this morning I want to give a little thought to worship, and why one aspect is done a particular way and explore other expressions of that aspect. I know me though and something that I should be able to write in a relatively short period of time could well take over the morning and I don’t have time for that today. I had quite clear thoughts in the shower, and wrote those down quickly before the mayhem of pre-school preparations. Now I just need to form sentences and phrases around those key thoughts and hopefully all will be done in a relatively short period of time.

Of course I know it won’t take as shot a time, because worship and its conduct and content matter to me, and I find myself pouring over things when I need to get on with life. I’m not tidy in my life, and certainly not a perfectionist in other areas of my life. But worship is about more than one person, and through worship there has to be an ease as well as a challenge that allows the community to recognise that they are stepping into the presence of God. Of course that connection lies in God’s hands in reality. However those leading worship need to be sensitive to the community that they are with, so that elements draw people in, rather than send them running away.

There is of course a fine line between challenge and distraction. Worship can’t always be the same, and if people are to explore what they already understand of God then there will be an element of disruption and discomfort from time to time.

So time to stop messing about, and put the real thoughts on a page so they can be perused by others. Then I’m going to have to try a little bit of living with the discomfort of waiting and bringing about change, trusting that what may be about to happen offers a different (perhaps more full) expression of who we all are in our relationship to God.