1) You take a secret delight in attending church in jeans instead of "a nice church outfit."
2) You take a secret delight in being anonymous within a congregation for the first time in your life, knowing that you do not stand out anymore than any of the other parishoners and therefore are not held up as example or cautionary tale (see #1).
3) You have favorite hymns and read ahead in the bulletin to see if any of them are listed.
4) You are disappointed when one of your favorite hymns is listed as one of the last to be played during communion because you know there's never enough people taking communion to stretch the music out that long.
5) You hum (or sing along under your breath, if you're not thinking) the pastor's part of the liturgy because, hey, you know it by heart.
6) You have a strong preference for either the green book or the red book (green book all the way, baby!) (This is probably specifically part of being an ELCA-pastor's kid.)
7) You know, without looking, that hymns numbered above 600 are in the "blue book," also known as WOV and yes, you know what that means. (Yep, this is probably ELCA too.)
8) You know, again without looking, what color the altar cloth should be during Advent.
9) You have eaten more than your fair share of potluck dinners, which likely included dishes with the word "funeral" in them. (e.g. Funeral Potatos, Funeral Chicken, etc.)
10) You know exactly how far the pastor can see out into the congregation...and yes, he CAN see you all the way in the back whispering, falling asleep, writing out your grocery list, and filling out the offering check during the sermon. (You're also relieved that you're not going to get in trouble for it over lunch anymore..unless you still attend your dad--or mom's--church!)
What else? Any thoughts, Beck, Susan, any other PKs out there?
3 comments:
You know you are a PK when you are the lowest paid babysitter in the congregation.
You know you are a PK when you correct the reader's pronunciation of the day's readings.
You know you are a PK when you don't jump for the slamming of the bible on Good Friday.
You know you are a PK when the first Sunday of church you ever missed was the first Sunday after you started college - far far away.
You know you are a PK when you are sitting in church with mono and strep throat.
You know you are a PK when you are the last family to go through the church buffet lines - and you continue to wait even after you go to your own church out of habit.
I'm sure I missed some, but here are some good ones for you. I LOVED the favorite hymn one and the note about communion - it's just so true!
Anonymous, your list is awesome! I particularly identify with the one about correcting the reader's pronunciation, sitting in church even though sick and being the last to go through line.
Perfect!
Hey...send me an email, either sklemstein@msn.com or the email address on my website. We need to exchange war stories, so to speak. :)
The liturgical and hymnbook knowledge, and the view of the congregation is also for those of us in the church Choir. You forgot the This Far By Faith hymnbook, but perhaps your church never had that one. Our choir does, but it isn't in the pews. The Green book liturgy, well, you can have it. I'll take the blue book liturgies for beauty any day.
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