A couple of Sundays ago, I attended the soft opening of a new worship service which will fully launch on Easter Sunday, 2018. Like a new pair of shoes, it fit, but it felt awkward. It felt just enough different/new to let me know this may take some getting used to.

I’ve never been one with expectations for worship. I’ve never understood those who insist worship has to be a certain way. Liking all kinds of music, offering the tithe in all kinds of receptacles (once in a kiddie pool), prayers, and greeting folks with a smile or a handshake, a well communicated Bible-based message, these are staples to every worship service I’ve been part of. All that happened. Which is why I can’t even explain why it felt awkward.

The space is unfamiliar. The order of service is unfamiliar. The sights and sounds are unfamiliar. The people we seek to reach may be unfamiliar, too. That’s the most exciting part for me. My role? To offer support and resource the children’s experience so that it jives with the new service, yet still has the level of excellence and enough shared DNA to know we are all part of the same family of faith of the local church I serve. The opportunity to collaborate with lots of voices makes me downright giddy!

What will the new, Sunday, 1pm service truly look like, sound like, smell like, and feel like come Easter Sunday 2018? I have no idea. But I get a front row seat in the movement of the Holy Spirit. I’ve met and begun to share life with both the clergy and the laity called to champion this endeavor. I think about it a lot, which prompts me to pray through my jumbled thoughts. That’s a good thing.  This I do know: I have been invited into history…a remarkable and sacred moment in the life of the local church family I now call home. I’m excited about it! Stay tuned. Or better yet, will you pray with us as we answer God’s call to reach the world with the love of Jesus…even if it’s in MY awkward-unfamiliar?