And a little child shall lead them

There is a fascinating story in a recent New York Times Fashion & Style section about a young boy who is determined to go to church. The parents, including the father who almost became a Xaverian Brother but then left the church completely, seem to be typical Boomers who have no use for religion and would rather drink their coffee and read the Times on Sunday morning. Despite their lack of support - "you don't have to go every Sunday" - they seem to be gradually drawn in by their son's faithfulness and seeking.

There is so much to look at here I almost don't know where to start. The parents' abandonment of religion. Their discouraging attitude along the way. The fact the Times sees this as a "fashion and style" story!

But most of all, the joy and wonder of a child who seeks God. How dare we not give our children every opportunity to know and worship the living God?

Blog alert: more to come in the next post.

The New York Times story is here.

(with thanks to biblebeltblogger)

Sunday Worship

On this Trinity Sunday I find myself thinking a great deal about the great mystery of God who is one and at the same time Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not because I can even come close to explaining how God can be three in one - but because God IS three in one. My response is not to explain, but to experience and exclaim! It is to worship the glory and majesty of the triune God.

Here at St. Paul's we do just that. We gather week after week to pray, to praise, to glorify God, to give thanks for all that God has done and continues to do for and with us, because we can do nothing less.

Our liturgy is prayer book liturgy at its best. In fact, I was told several times last Sunday (Pentecost) after the 10:30 service, about how good the service was. And not by strangers, who might have been other places where the liturgy isn’t very good, and there are places like that, but by folks who are here regularly, every Sunday without fail. So I started wondering: why comment last Sunday? Of course it was Pentecost, the red banners were hung, we priests had on beautiful copes, the procession was long and festal, complete with bells, the music was great, there were babies baptized, the Eucharist was celebrated – so I suppose that might have been it. But I suspect it was something less tangible.

Liturgy is the work of the people – and last Sunday 135 people showed up. Last Sunday, unlike lots of Sundays when there are barely 80 people, the church felt more full. Yes, there were extra folks from the baptismal families – but they don’t account for the big bump in attendance. We just had a higher percentage of our regular folks here than usual. And so our liturgy, our worship of God, was strengthened, and we as the body of Christ were renewed. So don’t think your not being here on a given Sunday doesn’t matter. It does matter. It matters to you, to the other members of our parish family and it matters to God.

I realized as I preached to those who did attend church this Sunday that I might have to give the same sermon illustration three or four times before everyone in our parish family might hear it. So maybe this blog will reach those who were in church last week but who thought it was OK to take this Sunday off.

A recent survey had some interesting responses to questions about church attendance. Of those who responded that they attended church "regularly" a large percentage then answered the question: how often do you attend? "one or two Sundays a month. Is that really how we define regular?

As we move into the lazy days of summer will our attendance fall off even more? Or will we, as the people of God take seriously that which God calls us to do: come and worship? How will you respond to God's call?