Because we share a worship space with another church (thank you Spirit of Joy!), we don’t have a lot of time to get everything ready for our worship gathering.
If you ever come early for worship, you’ll see our team plugging in instruments, rehearsing songs, setting up the altar, folding booklets, putting furniture in place, etc. And I know that just making it to church on Sunday morning can feel quite hectic as well (especially if there are young children involved!).
Because of all this, I sometimes feel like I’m breathlessly rushing into worship. I find my mind racing, feeling anxious that we’ve forgotten something, moving too quickly, speaking too loudly. Because of all this, I’m not actually present to God, who we’ve come to encounter together in worship.
Maybe you can relate? This is why I find it so helpful to have a few minutes to gather my thoughts and place myself in the presence of the Lord before worship begins. This is something we also want to cultivate as a community.
So I invite you to come 5-10 minutes early this Sunday to get yourself (and your kids, if you have some) settled before worship. Bring a coloring page or whatever else helps your children calm themselves. Take a few deep breaths and be present for a few moments to prepare yourself for worship.
To help create an atmosphere conducive to this practice, our musicians are going to start playing a quiet instrumental prelude at 11:12am or so (3 minutes before worship begins), and when the prelude begins, we ask that you finish conversations and find a place in the sanctuary to prepare for worship.
Also, as an experiment, we’ll also ring a bell in the foyer one minute before the service is set to begin to make sure we’re all able to prepare for and enter into worship together. See you Sunday!
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