In 1992, I was appointed to my first full-time pastorate, the two-point charge of Grandview/Covington United Methodist Church in central Texas. Last Sunday, I returned to Covington for the first time since I left almost 17 years ago. Pastor Robyn Young had issued an invitation for me to perform "Simeon's Dream." Covington is now paired with Line Street UMC in Hillsboro, but there were still some of the "old-timers" there--as well as many new faces!There is no choir at Covington UMC, so the congregation sang "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" at the appropriate time. When it was time for "Mary Did You Know?," Pastor Robyn played the excellent pre-recorded version by the famous Gaither Vocal Band.
The folks seemed to like the story of the righteous old man waiting for the Messiah. As I exited, Pastor Robyn got up to the pulpit and told the congregation that the performance gave her "God-bumps." One of the church members, who recorded Sunday school attendance back in the day, eagerly told me he wanted me to come back and perform more monologues.
At Line Street UMC, a small but pleasing choir sang "Mary Did You Know?" I believe I had the youngest Mary yet, a pre-teen girl. But she looked the part and did a wonderful job.
This was my last "Simeon's Dream" performance of the 2011/2012 season. In all, I visited five churches for a total of eight performances.
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