What Does a “Low Sunday” Mean Now?
John 20:27 (NIV)
Easter greetings, church! I pray we are all adjusting to the peculiar rhythms and requirements of the present. We are all learning new things. There are things I’m missing I never thought I would (like going in for dental cleanings), and things I’m not missing but thought I couldn’t do without.
One tradition from uninterrupted times is that of the great after-Easter church attendance plunge. It’s more pronounced in some churches than others. It has never been particularly acute in my time here at Flemington UMC. Still, I wonder if that norm holds now.
Lord knows we will need to hold onto hope in the months ahead. I pray that Greg and I are able to bring some light, joy, and hope into your life each Sunday, or whenever you are able to watch. What message do you need to hear from your church to get you through? We will always connect more faithfully when the things we connect to are the sorts of things we couldn’t imagine missing.
Back to attendance, though: while we don’t always love acknowledging this, attendance reflects the impact of each Sunday’s worship service on the lives of the church community. If you feel like you can miss a Sunday without missing out, you will. That’s just the way we are.
That’s also why it’s been so great to see so many people connected both during the live service each week and also viewing it later. The numbers are generally trending upward each week, which makes me wonder if that old after-Easter pattern will again hold. What if more people join in to worship this Sunday at 10:30am than did last week? What if even more people participate by watching the service later?
Here’s a link to this week’s upcoming worship service. There’s nothing there yet because we really will be going live, but I believe this will make it easier to be notified when it’s happening and make it easier to discover. You can share this with your friends and it should be as simple as opening the link. If you’re having difficulty connecting, please let us know.
Additionally, there are Bible studies taking place over Zoom Sunday mornings at 9:00am and Tuesday afternoons at 2:00pm. If you would like to participate, please respond to this message.
This is a time of growing our hope and deepening our connectedness to God and one another. I pray we will use this time well, learn these new skills, and do our part to ensure no one is left out or forgotten until we gather in person again.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Ben
Living Hope