[Magdalen] Christ the King Anglican

[Lynn Ronkainen]

Yikes!

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 15, 2015, at 12:10 PM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

I started with such high hopes. The greeters were lovely. The chairs
had padded seats with good sturdy backs so us old'uns could haul
ourselves up to stand. No Prayer Books (everything projected on
two screens at the front). And besides, the order of service was
different.

Rector blessed with a quiet, loving demeanor, very gentle but very
leader-like, a good clergy persona IMO.

Piano, guitar, violin and a full drum set. No choir.m People embraced,
clapped, waved their arms in the air. The dear old lady in front of me
had a frozen shoulder, yet she gamely made the effort to get her hands
up to shoulder level at least.

One thng to be said in praise of drafty old church buldings. This one
is quite new and hermetically sealed. On arriving, a heavy miasma of
perfumes and hairsprays. After the procession (All hail the power of
Jesus' name) an additional strong odor of denture adhesive. And
just after the Gospel, coffee being brewed. I thought I would swoon !!!

Everything was proceeding swimmingly. After the Gospel the rector
called all the youth down, a good number and all ages, prayed for
them in a most encouraging way, and asked all of us to pay attention
to them, to listen because children don't always want to talk to their
parents. True enough, sir.

And then the sermon. By Bob. Bob claimed to be a missionary (but,
it turns out, actually supported himself as a TOEFL instructor in
Thailand). Bob was, in the words one of my friends uses, a shlong.
He's twenty years older than his wife. He made sure we knew it,
telling us at least four times. He made sure we knew all about their
children, too. He's a good friend of Jesus, by golly. He droned on
and on about himself, clearly the star of his own Reality Show with
his sidekick Jesus. Forty minutes later (I checked my phone
because it felt like hours) he introduced his wife, who entertained
and inspired us with liturgical dance. Everyone leaped to their feet
to applaud and I ducked out the back.

May actually go back because they seemed like such a nice bunch
and Bob was obviously a traveling huckster.
-M