One of the things I was taught about public speaking is to make sure you know how long you have to speak, and try not to run over. (Having an interesting topic, mannerisms, reading your audience are also important, but not for this blog entry.) It's no different when it comes to pastors speaking in church on Sundays. In fact, church pastors often get unfairly teased about "speaking too long" on Sundays, so they're usually extra sensitive about the time.

When my church recently moved into its new building (Riva Trace Baptist Church), we moved into a sanctuary much larger than the original. We took the old clock we previously had in the sound booth that the pastor used to keep track of time with us. But it didn't work in the new sanctuary. (I *think* this was the clock we had in the old church, but regardless, this clock wasn't working out...)



The clock I referred to is the clock labeled "First (Original) Clock" in the picture above. Pastor Dennis couldn't see the clock with the new lighting and because the clock sits partially in the shadows made it even harder to read. This picture was taken with my Treo camera from about where Pastor Dennis would be standing while preaching.

So the church got a second clock with red LEDs lighting up the time. Great idea. Except the clock wasn't much bigger than the original, and with the small lettering, wasn't really visible either (this clock is labeled "Second Clock" in the picture above).

So this week, the church apparently consulted with NASA to acquire a smaller version of the NASA Shuttle Countdown Clock. This clock is labeled "New Clock" in the picture above. Now *this* is a clock you can see!

Will it help Pastor Dennis finish on time? Only time will tell (no pun intended)....