A Large OOPS

#2013-0117

I help make the bulletins for St. James' English services on Sundays. In order to prevent (or reduce) my possible mistakes in the bulletin I'm making, I usually ask Warren to proofread my first draft of the bulletin. Warren is my good friend at the same church and he is an English native-speaker from the US. He is very willing to give me a hand, so the correction (or modification) can always be done during the week, by email, before I send the final [revised] version to the church office for printing.

I am happy about this regular job of mine. Sometimes I refer to it as part of my weekly routine. But, to tell you the truth, a "routine" like that can be very rewarding. And it can be so interesting or surprising to me that I can't help having a little chuckle, a big smile, or a loud laugh!

Just take the bulletin for The Epiphany for example. See the photo on the upper right. What's wrong with the front page of the bulletin? Oh, on this page there is an error that even Warren, an expert editor and proofreader, had not detected until the worship service was almost over [on the morning of Sunday, January 6]. However, he was the first person who told me that I had not changed the year from "2012" to "2013." -- What an OOPS! My dear friend Warren must have chuckled at that mistake!

Then, during this week, I accidentally created an even larger OOPS. I bet you won't want to know about it. But if you are interested in knowing about it, read the following email messages:

The 1st email -- from me to Warren:

Dear Warren,

. . . Attached is a draft of the bulletin for the coming Sunday (January 20). Please check and see if it is okay. If you find anything that should be changed, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks very much & best regards.

Jerry Liang (梁金連)

The 2nd email -- from Warren to me:

Hi, Jerry!

I found a rather large OOPS in the bulletin. The Psalm is Psalm 36, verses 5-10.

I had to chuckle about the Psalm you included in the bulletin, because I cannot figure out from where you got it. Can you let me know? I'd like to solve the mystery.

. . . .

Best wishes in Christ,

Warren

The 3rd email -- from me to Warren:

Dear Warren,

I think I've now made all the necessary changes, including the capitalization of Julie's last name and the change from Psalm 96 to Psalm 36:5-10. And I have added to ANNOUNCEMENTS these words: "St. James' will have St. James' Annual Convention this afternoon. Both Chinese and English congregations are welcome to join."

Regarding the large OOPS in the original draft of the bulletin, you raised a very "good" question. Even I had no idea why I had quoted the wrong one, Psalm 96. However, I remember I "copied" the contents (as well as the title) in the Lectionary Page that I usually follow. It seemed unlikely for me to make the mistake on the contents and on the title at the same time, because my quotation had been done on the Internet and I had linked the same Lectionary Page! I felt quite puzzled myself about the OOPS. Then I spent quite a few moments trying to find out when Psalm 96 should be used. I checked the lessons for the previous Sundays/months and those for the coming Sundays/months.

Finally, I found that Psalm 96 was for the second Sunday after the Epiphany in 2010 (three years ago!) according to the BCP version [instead of the RCL version] of the Lectionary. I used my office computer when making the bulletin for this coming Sunday. Was it possible that the link that I used on that computer connected me to the BCP version instead of the RCL version? This might be the real cause of the OOPS!

Just smile, anyway.

Jerry Liang (梁金連)