Feeling battered

Sunday:

The plan - prayers at 9:30 service, adminster communion at 11:00 service, meet non-christian outraged father of my son's ex girlfriend to hear his concerns.

How it worked out:

9:30 prayers OK, but also, "Simon, as part of our 'giving in grace' series can you give a testimony about your situation?". So OK, I had to give a little talk. Difficult to express it without sounding as if you are asking, even though the worst crisis is now past. But I think I was OK.

11:00 - it's going to be the same sermon, so you've guessed, I have to do the same testimony again. And while I'm there: "Simon you did the prayers very nicely at 9:30, could you do them again now, please?" Fair enough, it's not a big ask. But a bit more planning would be appreciated. Next communion - we're on individual plastic cups owing to swine-flu-phobia, and so every week they invent a new procedure for distibuting and collecting the cups. Normally they atleast tell the administrators what is going to happen, but this week we were just left completely in the lurch, not knowing where we should be or who was doing what. I ended up having a 'discussion' with the warden as to which of us should distribute the bread at our station, each thinkning the other was more qualified, and this in the hearing of people who were beginning to line up. Unacceptable. I think Mr Vicar will be in for some criticism.

Then meeting the dad. He is notoriously strict, and doesn't think his 15 year old daughter should have a boy friend at all at her age, still less have any knowledge about sex. It turns out his outrage was caused by my son mentioning the S word on Facebook (In fact he was saying he does not believe in it before marriage). So the said daughter is now banned from seeing him, or from coming to church at all. And my son feels it is all his fault.

Fortunately, our youth pastor is brilliant and has set him back on track.

Later in the day, I heard that there is actually a lot more in the background - this is the tip of the iceberg of a much bigger alleged problem for which the church will be involving the police - with my son fortunately only as witness but still a very important one. I now think the dad only wanted to see me as a subterfuge to ascertain how much I knew about it all. But my son has been highly stressed by all this. And some of the more shocking revelations (which I can't disclose here) have affected me too.

I need a break!