R.I.P. MS. EMILY ??

After getting everything set up for services this morning (no altar guild person), vesting, ringing the bell, greeting people before service, and making various announcements, I said, "Let's prepare for worship."

This is something I picked up from my former rector. Announcements before the service (gives late comers time to wander in), and that little, "Let's prepare ...." statement that gives people a few minutes of prayerful quiet time before we get going.

From the back of the church I announce, "Hymn 423."

And nothing happened.

I saw my wife fiddling with the remote control. This is not a good sign. At first I thought that, in my morning rush, I made a mistake while programming Ms. Emily. But then I figured out that she just wasn't working. After a close examination of her, it was determined that her power cord was frayed at the junction of the cord and the plug-in thingy.

Damn. And I had good hymns today. So we improvised.

My good singer showed up, so she led us a capella in a few hymns. I knew we could sing 423, and I knew we could sing 671. But the dismissal was a little tricky, so I just picked one out of the blue that I both knew we could sing and that I knew the number: 344. (I would link to it, but they've got the wrong hymn -- It's "Lord dismiss us with thy blessing").

So, Christ Church sang without Ms. Emily. They didn't do to badly. But I'm really hoping that she's not dead (you may recall another time around Easter a year or so ago when she died and was resurrected after the third day; I'm hoping for a similar miracle).