Earlier this year, Susie and I had the opportunity to attend Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC with our son Zach West who lives there and is an attorney on the staff of Senator Ted Cruz. The CHBC is located about 5 blocks east of the US Capitol complex. The church is designated as a historical structure and the seating is in the round with balcony throughout much of the sanctuary. The few times we have visited the church we have really enjoyed the traditional hymn-singing, especially the vocal harmony of 700+ people singing in the round. The music is accompanied by a piano and guitar.
Zach and Alicia prefer to set in the balcony near an exit where they can take the kids out quickly if necessary. On this particular Sunday we had just sung the song "I am bound for the Promise Land.” I was enjoying the harmony so much that I used my recorder phone app to record a verse and chorus. When the song was over and the congregation was seated, I decided to name the song on my recorder app. This was a bad idea. I had muted my phone, but somewhere in the process of renaming the file I must have hit a wrong button and the song began playing out loud in the balcony during the service which was very quiet at the time. Needless to say I was frantic to STOP the sound. I began to push the pause, stop button or anything I could find to end the music. It finally stopped, but then proceeded to play the next audio clip on my phone which happened to be CLUCKING HENS. Just two days before we had visited relatives in Virginia with Susanna our granddaughter. They raised chickens/hens and I had recorded the clucking for Susanna to listen to later.
I tried to stop the sound, but when you are embarrassed, frantic, and the adrenaline is flowing.... you can forget punching the right buttons. I tried to bury the phone in my shirt, under my arm....it didn't work. My wife....well I think she was about to begin clucking also.... was laughing almost uncontrollably.
I finally decided to get up and go out the door which was only a few feet away. Wow, what an embarrassment. Fifteen seconds of clucking seemed like an eternity. I didn't come back into the sanctuary for about 15 minutes hoping people would forget who I was. Lesson learned.... Don't mess around with your phone in church. Keep your mind on the Lord!
Zach and Alicia prefer to set in the balcony near an exit where they can take the kids out quickly if necessary. On this particular Sunday we had just sung the song "I am bound for the Promise Land.” I was enjoying the harmony so much that I used my recorder phone app to record a verse and chorus. When the song was over and the congregation was seated, I decided to name the song on my recorder app. This was a bad idea. I had muted my phone, but somewhere in the process of renaming the file I must have hit a wrong button and the song began playing out loud in the balcony during the service which was very quiet at the time. Needless to say I was frantic to STOP the sound. I began to push the pause, stop button or anything I could find to end the music. It finally stopped, but then proceeded to play the next audio clip on my phone which happened to be CLUCKING HENS. Just two days before we had visited relatives in Virginia with Susanna our granddaughter. They raised chickens/hens and I had recorded the clucking for Susanna to listen to later.
I tried to stop the sound, but when you are embarrassed, frantic, and the adrenaline is flowing.... you can forget punching the right buttons. I tried to bury the phone in my shirt, under my arm....it didn't work. My wife....well I think she was about to begin clucking also.... was laughing almost uncontrollably.
I finally decided to get up and go out the door which was only a few feet away. Wow, what an embarrassment. Fifteen seconds of clucking seemed like an eternity. I didn't come back into the sanctuary for about 15 minutes hoping people would forget who I was. Lesson learned.... Don't mess around with your phone in church. Keep your mind on the Lord!