“Why I’m Skipping Sunday Worship”
Saturday Evening, September 17, 2016
By: James L. Brewer-Calvert
Sr. Pastor, First Christian Church of Decatur GA
Tomorrow morning after you’ve had a cup of java and a bite to eat, I do hope that you find yourself settling into a pew or up in the chancel with the choir or by an open door welcoming folks home. I hope you find yourself excited to discover what you and God’s people will experience, together, in such a sacred space and safe place. I hope you are eager to worship. Worship of the Living Christ is a most excellent way to connect with the Holy within you and creation. In the context of worship you are encouraged to process what you have just been through and to get recharged for the way and week ahead; to receive a fresh Word of hope and wisdom delivered with joy and sincerity; to partake of communion and pray alongside people who are, like you, coping with the realities of loss and life and love; to anticipate, to trust that you are going to depart in an hour and fifteen minutes different from who you were when you settled into your pew cushion, blessed, renewed and transformed, thanks to the grace of God.
Tomorrow morning I will miss you, in more ways than one. Our congregation has an active and courageous Outreach Ministry, led by Lynn Trapp and some amazing church folks who have taken on some new and significant projects in 2016. One program our Outreach Ministry chose to support is a local Habitat for Humanity build. We committed $1,000 in congregational resources and ten people over two Sundays to support an intentional interfaith build for a family in need in our county. This particular build sponsored by Atlanta Habitat for Humanity will include Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs. Typically Habitat builds are on Saturdays. However, since our neighbors who are Jews, Muslims, and Seventh Day Adventists cannot do a Saturday build, this interfaith build is set for Sundays in August and September. Some of our Christian participants from across the city may show up after 12 noon; our Outreach Ministry decided that waiting for after worship simply cuts out too much of the time when the actual work is done, so our church representatives are planning to do a full shift, from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Our church is set to send five servants this weekend and five different disciples the next, which is when the home will be finished.
Tomorrow morning when dawn breaks Betty and I will be on the team of five members and friends from First Christian Church of Decatur who will carpool to southwest DeKalb County and join with 35 faithful neighbors (for a total workforce of 40) who love God, each in our own way and each in our own language and each in our own joy, and manifest our love by putting up sheet rock, staining the porch, and landscaping the yard for a family of five who can’t wait to say, “Welcome home!”
Tomorrow morning around 10:30 AM I will pause at the Habitat site and offer a prayer of gratitude for you and yours, knowing that Lynn Trapp will deliver an excellent sermon, anticipating when we will worship together next Sunday morning, so you can share with me your story, and I can tell you personally that, as always, I am delighted to be your pastor. Shalom, James