Communion.

Charlie Skrine led the service this morning and when it came to communion invited "everyone who trusts and loves the Lord" to share in it.

Today Helen & I helped with communion at church. We had a strategy worked out; one starts with one row and the other takes the next one from the opposite aisle... that way we then pick up the bread & wine the other has launched. Sounds simple doesn't it? Not so in reality!

Row 1: this is Helen's row but I'm stood too far forward so the lady next to me thinks I'm about to pass the bread to her! Ooops quick step back. Sorry luv.

Row 2: Bread Away! Pause... now launch wine, not forgetting a tissue to wipe the cup. So far so good. Helen collects at the far end.

Waiting for row 1 to finish; bread done phew! But wait for wine.... come on, come on! Oh no the wine's stalled!

Row 3: Helen has relaunched bread followed by wine. But I'm still stuck by row 1! Bread & Wine both zip along row 3 in lightening speed as I am picking up belated wine from the first row.

Row 4: Collecting the proceeds from 1 and having dashed to row 3 to receive the bread & wine I'm like Manuel juggling plates and glasses and simultaneously launch them on Rows 4 & 5. The tissues, the tissues! Don't forget the tissues.

Of course there are no stallers on either row so Helen has to shuffle all four items to rows 6 & 7: Oh no!... stallers in both rows! So we have bread & wine stalled on one and wine only stalled on the other but the bread has zipped along again! So I'm holding one bread but daren't move to row 8 for fear of missing something! The wine's stalled because Helen has run out of tissue paper. This comedy of errors continues as we work towards the back.

All the other servers have finished and are offering to help. Oh no, please don't complicate things any more than they already are!

Finished. Phew.

Charlie Skrine winds up the service.

Helen & I both realised later that in all the kerfuffle we never actually took communion today! I don't believe the Lord Jesus thinks any the less of us for it though!

"Look on the bright side," I said to Helen, "we won't be asked to help again!"