I have just started attending the Episcopal Church. Lovin' it. Everyone there is so helpful to me that I'm stumbling through the services without making a total fool of myself, most of the time anyhow. 
The thing is, I'm a tad bit OCD, very shy and always afraid of offending. I also have a habit of overthinking things.
My question concerns the coffee hour, what the church lists on the bulletin as "pleasurable duties". Each Sunday when I finish my coffee and cake I head to the kitchen to help clean up. Add dishes to the dishwasher, wipe counters, whatever. I wasn't raised to just sit and eat and leave my mess for others to clean up. As my family would be put it, "You've been here before, you ain't company no more!" Add to that the fact that most of the church members are elderly and that goes against my raising too. I wait on my elders, not the other way around.
My question is - am I robbing the member assigned to that duty of their joy, their pleasure by helping? Should I not barge in on their routine?
Silly question to some I'm sure, but to me any question that helps me fit in is important enough to ask.
The thing is, I'm a tad bit OCD, very shy and always afraid of offending. I also have a habit of overthinking things. My question concerns the coffee hour, what the church lists on the bulletin as "pleasurable duties". Each Sunday when I finish my coffee and cake I head to the kitchen to help clean up. Add dishes to the dishwasher, wipe counters, whatever. I wasn't raised to just sit and eat and leave my mess for others to clean up. As my family would be put it, "You've been here before, you ain't company no more!" Add to that the fact that most of the church members are elderly and that goes against my raising too. I wait on my elders, not the other way around.
My question is - am I robbing the member assigned to that duty of their joy, their pleasure by helping? Should I not barge in on their routine?
Silly question to some I'm sure, but to me any question that helps me fit in is important enough to ask.
