There are two practical, but important things I want you to know as we head into the week ahead.
First, I’m still on my quest to get all of us around Christ’s table. This has probably been a ten-year quest for me. Communion is one of those places where we don’t just talk about being the church. We practice it. Young and old, longtime members and first-time visitors, people with deep faith and people still figuring out what they believe. We come to one table because Jesus invites us there. Over the last year, we’ve been experimenting with how we better include our children in that experience.
Last year, with Pastor Heather’s arrival, we tried something new. On Communion Sundays, whichever pastor wasn’t preaching went downstairs during Sunday School gathering time to teach about and celebrate Communion with our children in age-appropriate ways. It worked remarkably well. I can see in our kids who participated that something formative took place.
This summer, for some very practical reasons, we tried something different. The children came upstairs during Communion, sat together at the front, and were among the first to receive. That was an improvement, but it still wasn’t quite what I’m think our theology calls for. It could feel a little like pulling up to a Communion drive-through rather than sitting down together for the family meal Christ has prepared. And practically, it was disruptive to Sunday School: start downstairs, come upstairs, go downstairs, try to have a lesson, come upstairs again. So, we’re going to try another step.
Beginning this Sunday, on Communion Sundays our children will come upstairs after the offering for Children’s Time. We’ll use that time to teach about different parts of our Communion liturgy and what they mean. Then the children will return to sit with the adults who brought them, and we will share Communion together.
This Sunday is a particularly good place to begin because our preaching is about confession—and confession is also where our journey to the Communion table begins. So, we’ll talk with our kids about what confession means, why Christians practice it, and how grace meets us when we tell the truth. My hope is that Communion feels less like there is an adult table and a kids’ table and more like what it actually is: Christ’s table, where the whole family gathers. There’s more work to do. I’d still like us to become better at extending the table to those who are homebound or place-bound. That’s another piece for another day. Like I said, I’m on a quest.
Second, I want you to know where Carolyn will be next week or, more accurately, why you might not be able to find her!
As I begin my sixth year as your senior pastor, I’m grateful that we’ve developed a culture here that recognizes some work requires setting apart time and space.
At the end of each summer, you essentially pray me off to Colorado for a working retreat. I may take a day off while I’m there, but mostly I work and usually a lot. It’s regenerative work because I can quiet the world around me and concentrate on some of the ministry I love most: preaching, formation, and listening for the still, small voice of God. We’ve been trying, in smaller ways, to create that kind of space for Carolyn, too.
Carolyn’s days are filled with interruptions. There are days when she starts answering an email at 8:30, gets interrupted at 8:40, and doesn’t get back to that same email until 3:00. That’s the nature of being at the center of so much of our church’s daily life. But it also means there are important projects (some began two or three years ago) that simply haven’t had the uninterrupted attention they need.
So, with the support of Staff-Parish, our staff and volunteers, Carolyn is taking next week as a working retreat. She’ll be working, but away from the regular interruptions of the office, giving focused attention to projects that require creativity, strategy, thoughtfulness, and prayer.
Our staff and wonderful office volunteers will keep things moving. If something can wait for Carolyn, we’ll let it wait. If it doesn’t require Carolyn specifically, we’ll handle it. And if Carolyn reaches out to you, that’s Carolyn’s choice! I’m grateful to serve a church that increasingly understands that sometimes faithful work requires us to set apart some space.
Please keep Carolyn in your prayers next week: that she finds the focus, creativity, and inspiration she needs for work that will help all of us continue to illuminate our community with God’s grace.
And I’ll see you Sunday. Many of you have told me how much you’re enjoying The Story of commUNITY. I am, too. The sermons coming in October are some of my favorites in this first chapter, and I’m looking forward to turning the page into a beautiful month together.
P.S. Geneva folks: have a wonderful and safe Homecoming weekend!