Worship Journeys, Meditations and Stories: January 10, 2016 - Fellowship Hall / The Aerie at Eagle Landing Retirement Celebrations

Talk at Wednesday night's choir practice confirmed what I heard from other people who said "Wow, there was more church on Sunday than I am used to." Many thought of the party as "church". And if the criteria is two or more gathered that was definitely met. For me, on Sunday the usual expectation of a "church" moment spilled into The Aerie at Eagle Landing, a self-described French-styled "chateau" sitting atop the Eagle Landing Golf Course where wedding receptions and rehearsals are held..

There are many kingdom parables Jesus relates or acts our where there is a party or a wedding that is central to the action. Hosting a party is not exactly what we first think of for church when we talk about ministry. Still hospitality is an essential ministry to Creator and it seemed obvious that the ministry did not stop when the service was over.

Initially, after Pastor Dayle announced her retirement, when Creator council looked for Synod guidance, they wisely told us what the congregation should focus on was planning a party to celebrate what Pastor Dayle means to us.

Sunday demonstrated this was absolutely the right thing to do. Party plans and decisions needed to be made without Pastor Dayle's participation so there was learning how to be Creator without the benefit of her leadership. There was a challenge and leaps of faith that were healthy and needed to be made. The question before the council was how well the Creator community could embrace the planning and effort when there were different decisions and courses of action that could be made.

The council was shown that embrace by the congregation. There were so many people involved that recognizing individual contributions would be somewhat pointless and would be too much of a reduction . Like a piece of fine cloth, there turned out to be a wholeness that was greater the warp and woof of everything and everyone who contributed. Certainly there were those who arranged desserts, volunteered time to plan, set up and cleanup, and insure there was a presentation of photos on the flat-screen in the Fellowship Hall of Creator's history. Others captured those Sunday moments for future presentations.

Following the service with the public and personal dimensions, I was aware there was no shared event in the Fellowship Hall that everyone experience like there was at The Aerie. For example, I could describe the delicious food, which for me was a rich, wonderful cheesecake, but I know everyone did not experience that just like I did not have the opportunity to sample the cookies, chocolates and everything setup on the tables. There was too much to take in. The conversations and excitement shared were by their nature personal and cannot be reflected in an individual's summary of the overall experience

The celebration moved to The Aerie at Eagle Landing. The staff at The Aerie commented on how colorful the table centerpieces and plates were. There was a photo booth and scrap-booking table set up with a buffet table in their outdoor area to allow for the number of tables needed tor the guests.

Since this was a Sunday celebration the 2:00 PM kick off allowed many more of Pastor Dayle's fellow pastors and colleagues to attend and share their reminisces, stories and good wishes. Others, who could not be there because of other commitments, shared their thoughts and feelings through the testimonials of others,

The testimonials / roast / music part of the presentation happened after the most had finished their meals. What was shared reflected the deep affection of Pastor Dayle's family, the community, and her colleagues. The respect for her ministry was evident. Her care, friendship and honesty were highlighted.

Besides the great stories, memories and testimonials the songs included Pastor Dayle's grandchildren singing High Hopes, a couple of songs with rewritten lyrics for the occasion Four Strong Winds and 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), Kelly leading everyone with his song Free To Be Me and the shared part of the afternoon closed with Parting Glass.

There was something special in this Farewell and Godspeed, in the lightness and humor. We also remembered and missed those that could not be there for this celebration yet we still felt their presence with us.