No Summer Groove

I've decided that ministry during the Summer at Grandview is like a suburban dance party--there just isn't much rhythm. In the Fall people get busy with work and school, most push themselves to be at the regular things, be they Sunday morning worship, Bible studies or Two 4 Two. In the Fall my own kids have a regular schedule. In the Fall students are here, bringing such wonderful energy with them.

In the Summer? Our leaders are prancing around Europe (this isn't a criticism . . . if I could, I would be prancing around Europe with them). Our youth are at camp, or in New Orleans, or at another camp. Our CAT Team is in Mississippi. Our worries are about the dip in giving, which isn't a dip as much as it is a failure of giving to rise with the COBC (cost of being church--I'm going to write a book making that phrase popular. Millions of leaders who are into "cute church" will buy the book and we'll be able to pay down the church mortgage).

I wonder if you know how much your presence means in worship in the Summer? I think we tend to view the question of "to worship or not to worship" with an eye toward what it does for us as individuals. We tend not to realize that our presence is an encouragement to others. This past Sunday we had a surprising number of visitors. I was glad that so many of our regulars were around.

I think of a young couple who were visiting Grandview this past Sunday for the second or third time. As I chatted with them I discovered that they moved to the area to attend ETSU, where the husband is pursuing a Masters in Counseling. While I was introducing them to the Sunday school class that I thought they would enjoy, John walked into the classroom. John happens to be in the same program at ETSU (only a year ahead). I was able to introduce them and let them begin chatting. It would have been easy for John to have stayed home Sunday. He's had a rough enough month that nobody (least of all me) would have blamed him for not wanting to face the wave of well-wishers and questions about how he and Heather are doing. But John was there. And his presence was a connection point for people who are new to the area and wanting Johnson City to begin feeling like home.

I believe this Fall is going to be special. I believe that we're getting ready to start what will be remembered as a formative time in the life of Grandview. God has given us all the instruments we need. Part of me looks forward to the future, then I remember that we don't live in the future. We live in the today. We serve God today. The Fall? The Fall is months away.

So I'll dance now, rhythm or no rhythm. After all, I'm from the suburbs. I'm used to dancing like this. Where ever you are this Sunday (be it Johnson City or Europe) join the dance.