Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What If?


Since I missed worship at my church last Sunday because I had committed to represent presbytery at a mission fair at another church, I downloaded the sermon on my iphone. Our pastor said that he was seriously considering having a Sunday when the church was completely closed so that the congregation would worship by engaging in service to the community.

Our presbytery is considering doing something similar next year--having an abbreviated meeting on a Saturday and then encouraging all of its congregations to go out into their communities on Sunday and engage in appropriate community service projects.

It must be some kind of movement! What if it really happened?

5 comments:

Lori said...

I remember as a kid that doing something for the community used to be part of regular life. For churched and unchurched. It was woven into the tapestry of what was then civil society.

I am sad that it's come to a noted "event" for churches to try to foster.

Becky Ardell Downs said...

A Korean Baptist church not far from my home did this on "Ike Sunday"-- they didn't hold a worship service, but instead encouraged members to serve Christ through helping their neighbors in the aftermath of the storm. I was impressed.

Mary Beth said...

This ROCKS!!!!

As outreach coordinator for my church's vestry, I thank you, and plan to put this idea forward. Will it go? Probably not.

Worth a try!!

Anonymous said...

Outreahc Marketing is pushing this and has all of the posters, postcards, etc. for its promotion

PJ said...

At the risk of sounding too theologically precious, what does a proposal like this say about our theology of worship? Worship, I've been taught, is our praise to God. It's about celebrating his surpassing glory and excellence. It's about how God is worthy, for God has created all things… cue Revelation choirs…

Yes, the Great Commandment has two parts -- love God and love those around us -- but those two parts are not identical or interchangeable. We must do both, not simply do one and say it counts for both.