Ah, revelation can be oh so simple... if you agree?

Categories: anything-and-everything

Date: 30 June 2008 00:05:00

As a minister who spends most of her waking (and some of her sleeping!) hours thinking about the church and how many people are coming, and if they're finding it a value place to be, and if it's a welcoming community, and what songs and hymns shall we sing on Sunday, and are the people getting to know me and me them, and how will I fit it all in, and are the children and young people going to come through with their own vibrant faith despite what we do or don't do to try and teach and 'entertain' them, and who wants to get more involved, and am I praying enough, and is God quite pleased with how I'm doing and how many tables do we need for Alpha, and oh I should wander about and be seen a bit more, and will Mrs soandso be alright with the care package she's got, and will it be depressingly empty when they all go on holiday, and we need more volunteers for the children and the teens and the outreach and... You know, that kind of thing... It suddenly occured to me today that most people in the congregation have a week, and a life, that runs from after church on Sunday and generally til they walk back in the door again (though of course some of them do a lot of extra stuff for the church too). Hopefully it's a life that significantly includes God, but they don't I'm sure spend quite so many waking hours analysing the whole process of worship and church life - most of them just do it... and go home! Now this is a delightful revelation... because all that stuff can get a bit overwhelming sometimes and it's easy to forget to have a life too - hopefully one that still significantly includes God ;) but also one that has space for some other stuff too.

What do the churchgoers among you think about all this... what's beyond the end of the pew?*

*not that we have pews, but 'comfy chair' wouldn't have had quite the same ring there!