The First Pancake

Can we all agree that the first pancake that your pour into the pan is always the worst. No matter how many times I make pancakes, there is always a split-second question of, “how fast is this batter going to pour this time?” Never mind that I use the same recipe every time, the batter always comes out a slightly different consistency. Combined with the fact that I don’t always mix it in the same bowl or use the same pan or utensils, the first pancake is always the worst one. It is a tester. It will be the first one flipped (likely too early) and the first one eaten (to make sure that I didn’t forget the salt). But the reality is that there always will be a first pancake. You can’t get to a second pancake without making the first one first.

I did not come up with the idea of the first pancake, @Tori.Phantom on YouTube did.  I tried to find the video where she talks about the first pancake being a necessary step to doing something, but I couldn’t find it.  At any rate, she shares that many things in life can be considered “first pancakes.”  When I took up sewing again a few years back after not sewing for decades, I had more than my fair share of first-pancake projects.  When we all learned how to use Zoom, we all had first-pancake video calls when things went wrong and we didn’t know why.  It can feel like a first-pancake experience when you join a new organization, and you don’t know where things are or what the group norms are - but with all of these things, if we are afraid of messing up with the first pancake, it will limit our ability to do something new.  Many things only become easy with a combination of practice and familiarity.

This past Sunday, we had our first-pancake All-Committee Meeting.  There are things that we could not have known until we poured some batter into the pan and see how things formed.  We had a lot more people than I expected.  A few things needed some extra clarity.  Each of the committees has a few things to work out themselves and there are clear places for future collaboration.  But now we know where the bumps and opportunities are.   

We have two more pancakes – I mean All-Committee Meetings – planned going forward:

• April 13th in person after Worship
• May 22nd on Zoom at 7 p.m. (pending)

We will continue to fine tune our structure and check in to make sure it is accomplishing what we set out for it to accomplish.  Thank you to everyone working together to try a new way of being together.
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Blessings,
Pastor Chris