The title of this post is not some metaphor for the presence or absence of God's Holy Spirit.  Instead, it's very literal.  Yesterday the power went out to our community a couple of times before our 8:30 worship.  then we were able to have that early service with no problems.  But, right before the second service, the power went out again...this time for good.


We had a big Sunday scheduled.  We had children set to play carols for our hymns at the 10 AM worship...a tradition a few years' old.  We had crafts scheduled after worship (ornament-making).  And, later on, we had a rehearsal for our pageant followed by caroling around a bonfire with an actual reindeer present from Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

It was going to be a great day.

It still was a great day, but we had no lights.  As the people kept coming in for worship, we added more lanterns.  The kids couldn't play because the piano is an electric one.  Some persons were in darker areas of the sanctuary so we only sang the first verses of lots of carols.  I could still preach since it was from an iPad, but we couldn't work the projector.  Afterwards we still managed to gather for crafts in the library, which is the brightest room in the church due to the number of windows.  The pageant practice occurred in the dark.  The caroling was canceled because the parking lot was a mess.

But it was kind of fun.

The ability of the church to roll with these punches and not miss a beat is indicative of the community that is experienced here.

Here are some pictures: