Last night, I participated in an online Compline service--I use the word service loosely. It was one of my Facebook friends who was on Facebook Live. She read the Compline service from the Book of Common Prayer.
From what I could tell, she was in a contemplative corner of her house. It could have been a living room or a study. She had some books in front of her, and a candle. There was a cross on the wall. The vibe was soothing.
We participated by making a comment in writing, but if there was a way to be more interactive, I didn't discover it.
It took all of about 10 minutes, as my Facebook friend read through the service; I had wondered if she would read or chant.
I wish I could say that I went to bed immediately and slept through the night. I confess that I wasted my calm feelings by going back to Internet scrolling where I found news of more closings. It was almost an hour before I yanked myself away, went to bed, and fell asleep.
My church is about to experiment with being fully online. Although we met in person on Sunday (a skeleton crew of a congregation), we won't be meeting in person again for at least a few weeks.
Last night's Compline service made me think about the alternate ways we might try. I know that a lot of churches have been having online services by having the pastor do the whole service in an empty church.
Maybe we could do church REALLY differently. I don't know what that would look like. But I think we might be about to find out.
but bestows favor on the humble
6 months ago
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