Ooops

If you are going to fluff your lines, do it with style.  If you are going to forget your lines, forget something important.

I had the first part of the service today.  A brief hello, a few words for approach, introduce the first hymn, another prayer, some words for the children, another hymn, a short blessing for the children, before Kathryn took over for the remainder.  Easy.

It was going so well.  I had a few words of prayer, then led into the Lord's Prayer.  Those words that everyone knows.  Those words that we used to say at the start  of classes from primary one to seven.  Yes, when I wrote out my script, I missed out an entire line, and if it hadn't been for about 80 people joining in, our debts and our debtors wouldn't be getting forgiven this week.  At least to the listening audience, they probably think I've just fluffed a line. 

But still.  I thought it was going so well...

After that, the children's address went really well.  Until we got to the end, when I announced the next hymn.  "And now let us sing together hymn 251, I the Lord of Sea and Sky..."  and there was a short pause as I gathered my props from the children's address.....  A pause that got longer and longer...  Then I realised that the organist probaby hadn't heard me.  So another thing I need to learn is to make my directions to the organist clear and precise, as they are often going to be tucked away in an onscure corner of the church and may not hear me.

After all that, I decided that today was a good day to go out with the Sunday School, and made my departure after the blessing.

So I'm happy doing bits of the service, but I need to work on the stagecraft.

And I'm getting the Lords Prayer tattooed on my fore-arm.  (Along with Leviticus 19:28)