I had asked for prayer for Doug Dezotell, who is both a United Methodist minister and a co-worker of mine at the Times-Gazette. Doug had five bypasses last week. He made it through the surgery fine; he had a little bit of a heart rhythm problem today but it resolved itself, and he’s hopeful they will get him up and walking soon as a prelude to being released from the hospital.

As a certified United Methodist layspeaker, I preached for him the past two Sundays at Mt. Lebanon UMC, and will probably do so a few more times before he’s ready to get back in the pulpit. But this coming Sunday, my father will do the honors — it’s Communion Sunday, and Dad, being ordained, can do that, while the United Methodist discipline will not allow me to do so. (Technically, an ordained minister could bless the elements at some point prior to the service and I could still hand them out, but that requires that you skip over parts of the traditional service and so it’s not quite the same experience from the standpoint of the congregation.)

Actually — confessional time here, so if the district superintendent or the bishop is reading, I’m going to have to ask you to avert your eyes — I presided over Communion during the Kenya trip. We traditionally serve Communion during debrief; the team was interdenominational, and anyway it wouldn’t have occurred to Gail or me to get someone to bless the elements ahead of time.

Grape juice isn’t as commonly available in Kenya as it is here in the states. They do have black currant juice, which is not dissimilar, so Gail and I asked Frank Schroer to go and buy some from a grocery store in Nakuru. But the store wasn’t open yet, and so Frank’s only option was a convenience store, where he bought carbonated black currant Fanta.

I joked during the service that a little-known clause of the Book of Discipline, printed in tiny type in the margins, allows lay speakers to preside over Communion in the event that carbonated black currant drink is used instead of juice.

But I’ve rambled. I was talking about Doug, and his church. Dad is looking forward to preaching at Mt. Lebanon; Doug had actually asked him to do so a month ago, while I was in Kenya, because Doug was going to take a vacation to visit his family in the Dakotas. But the trip got called off at the last minute, and Doug didn’t need a substitute after all.

Anyway, Doug would still, I am sure, appreciate your prayers for his recovery, which will take some time.