{"id":253,"date":"2006-11-19T14:46:21","date_gmt":"2006-11-19T19:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=253"},"modified":"2009-01-22T15:53:11","modified_gmt":"2009-01-22T20:53:11","slug":"reception-of-new-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=253","title":{"rendered":"Reception of New Members"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church<\/a> received me (and 15 others) as new members of the church.<\/p>\n

All of us were asked to sit up front in the church along with our families.\u00a0 Carolyn joined me this weekend (taking a break from the Catholic thing) and sat with me in the first pew.\u00a0 I think I like it better towards the back.\u00a0 The building looked full – just enough room for everybody to be comfortable rather than crammed in.<\/p>\n

The bulletin included a legal size page with our pictures and self-written bios on both sides.<\/p>\n

Just after the Children’s Message, we were called up by name to be recognized as new members.\u00a0 One of us, Kate – a student at Princeton Seminary – needed to be baptized.\u00a0 We were all asked the traditional baptism questions as our formal profession of faith, and then Kate was baptized in what has to be the wettest baptism I’ve ever seen in a Presbyterian church (water was actually running down her back).\u00a0 Then the congregation read the Words of Welcome from the Book of Common Worship, and sang a hymn “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” and the congregation was then invited to pass the peace (moved from the beginning of the service).\u00a0 The Peace was as chaotic as usual with the crowd of us tripping over each other.\u00a0 Then we all sat down and the service continued.<\/p>\n

This is necessary if you want to avoid experiencing undesired effects when taking the purchase viagra from india<\/a> medication. It is when a person fears being alone, and is terrified at the possibility of not viagra cipla<\/a> being able to get erection. You need to Order blue pills online in lowest price to viagra india prices<\/a> take pleasure of love making life and that too a hour prior to the demonstration. Impotence happens free prescription for levitra<\/a> to a person only when he is sexually stimulated. <\/span>One pleasant surprise was the hymn just before we were received.\u00a0 It was “I Danced in the Morning” (#302 in the blue Presbyterian hymnal, if you’re playing along at home).\u00a0 The Rev. Tim Ives was the Associate Pastor at the church that I grew up in.\u00a0 He has to be in the top 5 people responsible for my spiritual growth, and I doubt that I would have been a deacon, YAD, member of Synod committees, or Youth Triennium participant if it weren’t for him.\u00a0 This hymn was the centerpiece of his service of installation in that church.\u00a0 “I am the Lord of the Dance, said He”\u00a0 Freaky coincidence?\u00a0 Carolyn and I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

At the end of the service, the group of new members left at the beginning of the last hymn to form a receiving line in Fellowship Hall.\u00a0 I managed to get Carolyn to stand next to me – after all she is part of the family now, too.\u00a0 We then met a huge crowd of people, most of whom who told me their name and few that I remember, and then we had the cake that was specially made for us.\u00a0 We chatted with all sorts of folks and then headed home.<\/p>\n

This is the end of the journey that began in August 2005 when another volunteer at Camp Johnsonburg<\/a> asked me “What church do you belong to?” and I had no answer.\u00a0 It went on to include the Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home<\/a> retreat at camp and my church search.<\/p>\n

While this is the end of the journey back home, it is certainly NOT the end of my spiritual journey.\u00a0 I hope to bring you news as time goes on.\u00a0 I look forward to this church finding a way to pull me into greater involvement – I’m eager to get started but I need help to find that first thing to volunteer for.\u00a0 And I also look forward to telling the story of this successful journey at the new Reconnecting with Faith retreat next January.