There might be an excuse for missing something out, if it enables the Bishop to catch his bus (for example), but people should still be told that there is to be an omission...
We have had a number of new people over the last few years and a significant number of our congregation didn’t grow up in the Church in Wales or the Church of England*, so it’s helpful to have absolutely everything on a screen so that nobody has to juggle books or work out where they are if they aren’t entirely fluent in English.
The screen is positioned so that it is generally visible even if you are sitting and others are standing.
There are ample hymn books and a few printed service books available, and all hymn numbers displayed, as two or three people have problems with vision or posture which makes it difficult for them to follow the screen; also some people prefer to check before the service what we’re going to sing.
It’s not perfect but it’s about as inclusive as we can manage.
* (congregation currently includes people who were brought up in Baptist, URC, Roman Catholic and Quaker congregations in the UK; Ugandan Catholic and Episcopalian; Nigerian Baptist; German Catholic; Korean Protestant, unsure which variety; nothing; probably a few others but I can’t remember)
That sort of ad hoc editing is often because the booklet was produced by the last vicar but two, and they haven't had the money to reprint it. And/or they had to sack the parish administrator, the computer with the files on it had its hard disc corrupted and no-one has been bothered to redo it since.
Quaker Meetings would usually have copies of the Bible, in my meeting at least ones that include the Apocrypha. There are also copies of Quaker Faith and Practice (The Red Book/Quaker Bible) and a pamphlet called Advices & Enquiries which contains pithy challenging statements and Questions. Our meeting went through a phase a few years ago when Friends started using phones when giving ministry often to cite poems l, wise words of others, ir somethi g from the Guardian. Fortunately, after discussion and reflection this has ceased. Ideally, when we minister it should come from within. Personally, I'd get rid of Bibles,be they Quaker ot not, and pamphlets
My perspective is that paper booklets are recyclable and biodegradable, laminated anything is not - paper waste is preferable to plastic waste or electronic waste. There will always be some waste, I'd rather be able to shred and compost unused booklets than the alternative.
And/or they had to sack the parish administrator, the computer with the files on it had its hard disc corrupted and no-one has been bothered to redo it since.
... and the parish administrator refused to hand over any of their credentials and had the only soft copies of all the relevant material.
I leave my phone at home when I go to church. It would be a distraction at a time when I want to be apart from everyday trivia.
I have mine in my handbag, turned off. Our priest has hers at the ready and checks it throughout the service; this is because we stream the service, and she is ensuring it is working. I find her use of the phone distracting.
I leave my phone at home when I go to church. It would be a distraction at a time when I want to be apart from everyday trivia.
I have mine in my handbag, turned off. Our priest has hers at the ready and checks it throughout the service; this is because we stream the service, and she is ensuring it is working. I find her use of the phone distracting.
I control our livestream so if I'm reading or leading part of the service I have to use my phone as a remote control (to switch from camera to hymn and back).
I leave my phone at home when I go to church. It would be a distraction at a time when I want to be apart from everyday trivia.
I have mine in my handbag, turned off. Our priest has hers at the ready and checks it throughout the service; this is because we stream the service, and she is ensuring it is working. I find her use of the phone distracting.
She really should entrust the responsibility of ensuring that the stream is working to someone else.
We do have someone running the live stream, so I am not sure why she double-checks. We had a visiting priest who used a tablet for the whole service, sermon and all.
She may have had a bad experience in the past, and be unable to shake the memory. Or simply be, uh, uneducated when it comes to this technology--and so not realize how unnecessary her checking is.
She may have had a bad experience in the past, and be unable to shake the memory. Or simply be, uh, uneducated when it comes to this technology--and so not realize how unnecessary her checking is.
Or is someone who is, uh, pre-disposed to double-checking everything - I speak as someone in that group.
Personally as someone who is reliant on public transport, it also makes you annoyingly reliant on a smartphone - especially around this time of year when local Christmas markets can mean temporary bus stops popping up! I need to be able to use Google Maps as opposed to just the bus company website, because several different bus companies operate in my area and their sites don't show other companies' services.
I've got a husband who spends quite a bit of time checking videos of his preaching etc, I think because he doesn't trust the videographers (to be fair, I once loaded the wrong file out of two nearly identical ones). Still, I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, given that there's normally only a single file with no possibility of a do over. But who knows, maybe it's his idea of fun.
Comments
The screen is positioned so that it is generally visible even if you are sitting and others are standing.
There are ample hymn books and a few printed service books available, and all hymn numbers displayed, as two or three people have problems with vision or posture which makes it difficult for them to follow the screen; also some people prefer to check before the service what we’re going to sing.
It’s not perfect but it’s about as inclusive as we can manage.
* (congregation currently includes people who were brought up in Baptist, URC, Roman Catholic and Quaker congregations in the UK; Ugandan Catholic and Episcopalian; Nigerian Baptist; German Catholic; Korean Protestant, unsure which variety; nothing; probably a few others but I can’t remember)
Not the best place for electronic devices then.
Or paper, in fairness.
... and the parish administrator refused to hand over any of their credentials and had the only soft copies of all the relevant material.
I have mine in my handbag, turned off. Our priest has hers at the ready and checks it throughout the service; this is because we stream the service, and she is ensuring it is working. I find her use of the phone distracting.
I control our livestream so if I'm reading or leading part of the service I have to use my phone as a remote control (to switch from camera to hymn and back).
Or is someone who is, uh, pre-disposed to double-checking everything - I speak as someone in that group.
Personally as someone who is reliant on public transport, it also makes you annoyingly reliant on a smartphone - especially around this time of year when local Christmas markets can mean temporary bus stops popping up! I need to be able to use Google Maps as opposed to just the bus company website, because several different bus companies operate in my area and their sites don't show other companies' services.