Dear Friends,
Summer is always a fun time at Central with special events and programs. The rhythm of summer is different as people travel for vacations and spend weekends out of town. Central’s leadership teams have been having conversations about the best ways to effectively and with excellence fulfil our mission to follow Jesus by loving God and loving our neighbors in the different circumstances summer brings.
Experience has shown us that both attendance and giving decline in the summer as people travel for vacations and spend weekends away. This trend has been heightened as we emerge from Covid. Experience has also shown us that what has worked well before Covid is not as effective as it was. The ministry teams that oversee Sunday morning ministries recognize this and have decided to try a holy experiment.
Let’s talk about holy experiments for a moment. Recognizing that our best efforts no longer yield the same results, we must be open to new ways of fulfilling God’s mission for Central. In holy experimenting:
· We try new things, trusting that our efforts are focused on contributing to the fulfillment of God’s mission for us.
· We recognize that we may not know the outcome, but that any outcome can be a step forward.
· We adopt a learner’s attitude, staying open to God’s guidance and intervention as we go.
· We are able to quickly pivot and adjust as needs change.
· We allow ourselves to try new ways of being church, looking toward faithfulness to God’s mission rather than using the world’s standards of success and failure.
Embracing this idea, our Sunday morning schedule for June and July will be as follows:
9:00 AM
Sunday School for children and youth.
Adult Sunday School for classes who choose to meet at 9:00 AM
10:00 AM
Worship in both the Sanctuary and the Well
11:00 AM
Adult Sunday School for classes who choose to meet at 11:00 AM
The regular Sunday morning schedule will resume in August.
This summer schedule will give us the opportunity to worship and interact with people from other worship services who we do not see as often. A single worship time gives us the opportunity to reunite with old friends and make new friends. One anticipated outcome is that this summer schedule will foster a “one-church feeling.” Another added benefit is that during the summer when so many people are traveling, this schedule lowers the pressure on our ministries that rely on volunteers to serve.
Throughout its history, Central has been willing to try new approaches in fulfilling God’s mission. I ask for your prayers and patience as we try something new in furtherance of our mission to follow Jesus by loving God and loving our neighbors.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Thomas Smith
Senior Pastor