I enjoy leftovers. Not only does eating the scraps help me make room in the fridge, but it also forces me to come up with creative ways of reimagining the remnants of a previous meal. Baked potato bar leftovers from last night stirred into a morning omelet turns my measly scrambled eggs into a First Watch kind of breakfast creation. A pork roast from earlier in the week turns up my nacho game when drizzled with a swirl of BBQ sauce, a dollop of sour cream, and a handful of cilantro. Even the lingering fruit from my lunchbox is perfect atop a bowl of cereal or ice cream for a late-night snack. It’s fun to pull out the good stuff and discover a second life.
This time of year is always interesting in church life. It feels a bit like cleaning out the fridge to prepare space for what is next. Church staff and ministry leaders spent the summer looking at the leftovers from the previous year, not only the Bibles, crafts, and other physical items, but also the lingering ideas, hopes, dreams, and patterns of learning and serving. What should we keep? What should we pitch? What are the items we can recycle and use right now as part of something new?
In a few weeks, as we leap into our fall schedule, there will be many things that you will recognize. We will return to our Sunday rhythm of three worship services, with learning for all ages at 9:30 am. Sprinkled throughout the week, there will be a variety of opportunities to serve and learn and gather together as we continue to ground our lives in the promises of God.
Drawn from conversations with many of you and our recent survey results, there will also be some things that will be switched up a bit. One of the most exciting shifts will be our pattern of learning for children on Sunday morning. We will invite everyone in fifth grade and below to begin with us in worship as we sing, pray, and share a children’s message together. Following that time, the children will zip down to the fellowship hall space for the remainder of worship, spending time digging deeper into the Bible verses and themes of the day.
Why the shift? Over the last few years, we realized that many children were dropped off for Sunday learning, while their parents or grandparents went to worship. After worship, the adults grabbed the little ones and departed. Unintentionally, we have been creating a generation of children who don’t know what it is to be part of worship and families haven’t been in worship together. This is a crucial misstep in faith formation that we need to correct.
Along with our mission to live, share, and celebrate with all people in Jesus, Lord of Life’s core values of outreach, diversity, faith formation, and worship all pivot around intentional time in Scripture and community. We hope that welcoming these little ones into worship moments will:
create a cohesive, multi-generational worship experience for all.
empower families to sing, pray, and share together.
challenge us to think about what a welcoming and inclusive space can be.
This fall is an excellent season to try some new things and look forward to how it will enrich all of our Sunday morning experiences.
There is a precedence for this. Over and over, Jesus made room for others and welcomed children into worship. He was continuously looking ahead, reimagining not only what the church was, but what it could be! With things like bread, wine, water, oil, and more, he was always gathering the extras and serving up another delicious plate of nourishing Grace.
I’ll meet you at the table,
Pastor Lowell
Come find out more about plans and how you can be part of this exciting time this Sunday, August 28 after the 10 am service at the Parent/Child meeting or contact our Director of Faith Formation, Angie Seiller.