Yesterday morning, I arrived at church, went to my office, and then headed to the sanctuary to set up my laptop for the projector. To my surprise, when I opened the door, a cool breeze hit my face. The heat was off...just in the sanctuary.
After trying to figure some stuff out with Bud, our head Trustee, we realized there was no heat for the service. At first I was like, "We'll be OK, it's not too bad." As a few others arrived and felt the cool air, I learned differently (tic).
Bud and I revisited the decision, and 20 mintues before worship we decide to have worship service in the basement! Bud began orchestrating getting the chairs set up, and I began moving the laptop, projector, and a mic downstairs. As we began doing this, everyone just chipped in. People were bringing down mats so that I wouldn't trip over the power cords while I preached, others set up a "temporary altar-table" consisting of a folding table, a plastic table clothe, our candles, and the altar-table Bible. We used plastic table cloth for a screen, and off we went!
In the midst of all of this, one would expect stress and/or anxiety. Complaining and grumbling. However, it became this fun mission for the Body of Christ to overcome! We laughed, we were creative, tons of people got to participate thereby making it "theirs". Nearly all agreed that it was one of the more fun and exciting worship services we've had. It wasn't our plans, but God's that were seen to. How awesome.
The irony? The sermon was on new starts and change (see yesterday's sermon post)!
I love a warm sanctuary, and I could do without the question of "Are we going to be able to pull this off?" every Sunday...BUT, if worship were like this every week...
I guarantee we'd have to build a bigger basement...because this was the Body of Christ, and it was so tangible.
I'm left pondering...how do we intentionally set the Body free, offering it exciting mission and a sense of purpose...without shutting the heat off :) I'm kidding, but I really am wondering how to offer that sense of purpose and urgent mission.
2 comments:
That's a great story. During college in the summer I had the pleasure of being a part of a church that had no building. We met in a High school auditorium. It was amazing to me how the simple (yet massive) task of setting up and tearing down a service every week is so invigorating to the body of Christ.
Sounds like fun... I love to watch God move God's people!!
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