Disclaimer (because someone will say something): although I am actively involved in my church, all opinions and observations are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the leadership, staff, or congregation.
Quick note: as I'm posting this, it is Memorial Day, in which we honor the brave men and women who have died in service to our country. Yesterday, I posted my thoughts on Memorial Day and what it means to me. You can check it out here: Thoughts for Memorial Day 2021
CHURCH REPORT FOR MAY 30, 2021
There are a lot of mega-churches in our country which engage in multi-campus environments; that is, one church meeting in different locations. Usually, with the aid of modern technology, the pastor and/or part of the service is live streamed to the satellite congregation(s). I'll leave it to the readers to debate if this is a good thing or not.
But it's not really new either. The church I attended in college promoted itself as "one church in three locations," which was crazy talk at the time. Of course, they did not have the video and computer technology of today, so the pastor would rotate to the different locations. By carefully staggering the service times, the pastor would finish his message in one location while the service was just beginning in the other. Theoretically, after driving in southern California traffic, he would arrive just in time to assume the pulpit in the second location (I'm not sure what exactly they did with the third location).
So what does this all have to do with EPCBC? Nothing, except for as many Memorial Weekends as I can remember, we have been a "multi-campus" church.
Photo courtesy of Dave S.
You see, Memorial Weekend is the occasion of the annual church Family Camp and most of our congregation is away enjoying the sun, sea breeze, and sanguinity of the Oregon coast (well, okay, full disclosure...there is often rain). They have "church" there on the coast--actually a couple of times--and it is a big event.
But for those left behind, and who are not otherwise escaping for Memorial Weekend, we have "church" at our same location, same time. Not a lot of other things: no Saturday night service. No Friday night outreaches. No Sunday morning Adult Bible Study. No children's activities. No, the 10:00 service is "it".
My wife and I arrived, parked in front (something we rarely do other times), and were greeted by a member of our "Service and Safety Team." He introduced us to a new family. Not a lot of people around, but lots of smiles. We were spaced out across the sanctuary. Our song leader mentioned how glad he was for those who were attending, unless so many people were gone because of the rapture! He recommended, because of our low numbers, that we sing louder. And so our first worship set began.
Then it came time for the speaker. Oh, did I mention that I was the speaker? That too is kind of a Memorial Sunday tradition. With a few exceptions, I'm "holding down the fort" on that Sunday. Ahh, the tales I could tell you about Memorial Sundays past . . . .
Anyway, I broke out of our Ezekiel series to focus on Ephesians 3, talking about the mystery of the church: the fact that God has blended together Jews and Gentiles in to one Body, the Body of Christ, and all that follows in connection to that. Second worship set, closing (I read the doxology from the end of Ephesians 3), and we were dismissed.
In a lot of ways, our Memorial Sunday service is like most of our services. People from all ages, walks of life, good and bad experiences, coming together to worship the Lord. I see the same faithful people who work hard to make sure everything goes smoothly (like the Service and Safety team). I also can't help but feel a touch of sadness for those who are battling illness or who recently lost a loved one and could not attend. Some who are absent surprise me. Actually, some who are there surprise me!
But through the whole morning, I never once think about what I'm missing at Family Camp. For one Sunday, we are "one church in two locations." And as everyone gets back, I'm looking forward to swapping stories.
So, how was your church service this weekend?
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