We held our first outdoor worship service of the summer last night, and I gotta tell you … those services just hit differently.
Well, truth be told, there’s a combination effect really.
First of all, our summer Wednesday night worship services already set a different tone, as we begin the evening with a family style meal. … All gathered around tables in our fellowship hall, feeding our tummies on a meal provided by one of our families, before we feed our souls. Last night’s meal just happened to be provided by a group of our youth group parents!
After dinner, then we move upstairs for worship, which is far more casual. Fewer scripture readings, fewer songs. A slimmer, much more casual affair than worship the rest of the year.
And then when you move this kind of Wednesday night summer service outside … well, then it just plain becomes a hoot.
Last night also happened to be a communion night, which in my recollection we’ve never done outside except for I think one time when we used the prepackaged communion cups during an outdoor pandemic service.
This occasion thus meant that we hauled a lot more hardware outside with us!
Our beautiful, brick-based church faces east to west, and on the north side of our church, there is a lovely plot of grass that is boxed in by the church to the south, the fairly recently added new entrance hall to the west, the sidewalk and street to the north and an alley to the east. And it’s all provided wonderful shade by stately old oak trees that line the sidewalk alongside the gravel street.
It really is a picturesque setting for an outdoor service! … Almost as if our founding saints made the grassy chunk for this!
When we’re outside for service, we position the “front” of the assembly near the corner where the church and entrance hall come together to form an “L” shape, meaning that me and my lectern, and the musicians are backed dropped by tall conifer trees and the hostas and other ground-level plants that ring the north side of our church.
So if you were to be sitting in our audience, you’d see me with my lectern and next to me a table with a beautifully crafted white table cloth draped over it, and atop of the table, the traditional wooden offering plates, and all of the silver hardware containing the sacraments. And to the right of that table were our two guitarists with their music stands.
From my vantage point, I look out on a congregation that is sitting in a mix of foldable camping chairs, others on the chairs pulled out from our fellowship hall, some on blankets and even a few standing.
That’s all! … A fairly stripped down service by Lutheran standards!
Last night, as our musicians finished playing their prelude, I realized that we still had a number of people who were still streaming up from dinner in the church basement, and so I knew we had to tap dance a bit before service started.
So, I started asking about the parishioners’ weeks. I knew one of the youngsters in the crowd had participated in dance nationals last week, and so I had her share her news. And another youth had returned from an agricultural exchange trip to Ireland, and so I asked her to share. And there were more greetings with folks who hadn’t been to church in a while.
It felt like a family get-together, which of course, if you think about it, it was. … Our weekly Faith Family get-together!
I couldn’t help but think that this kind of service was far better of an approximation of what church was like back in the first century when Jesus was roaming Galilee than what we do in our brick and mortar church. And it was beautiful!
One parishioner made note of the birds serenading us as we settled in for church, and another noted the mild temperatures, and the fact that we were spared rain, given that we’ve been experiencing quite a wet pattern as of late.
The setting and environment couldn’t have been more perfect!
Eventually everyone had wandered out from inside the church and we kicked off service with an opening song and invocation. … And all of it was lovely.
My favorite part of the evening though, had to be right before communion. I knew that I was going to need a couple of minutes to get the sacraments ready before I could bless them, and so I invited the community to share the peace.
Given the opportunity, they all exploded out of their chairs to embrace their neighbors and do some more chit chatting with folks they hadn’t seen in the past week, maybe even longer. This lasted several minutes, and even though I had already finished preparing the sacraments, I just watched from behind my lectern as these lovely people poured themselves into each other.
It warmed my heart, and affixed a giant smile on my face!
Eventually, after several more minutes, I cracked a joke and told them, “You all just go on; just tell me when you are ready!” … And they loved it!
I don’t know. … Maybe reading about this experience doesn’t convey the same emotions as being there. But all I can say is that while our formal, traditional services inside the church the rest of the year are beautiful, there is something special about these outdoor services too!
Everything is stripped down, bare minimum: The people, the preacher, some music, The Word and the sacraments. All the things you need in a worship. All under a big blue sky with cottony white clouds floating overhead, and serenaded by the sounds of creation.
It couldn’t be more perfect! You should come join us for one! … Amen.
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