Dear Friends in Christ,
This week, I have spent an inordinate amount of time on something that may strike some of you as trivial and some of you as all too familiar: planning the morning routine.
Like most families with children, we have a delicate balance of wake-up times (which often do not mesh with adolescent circadian rhythms), breakfast preparation, looking for clean socks, finding lost homework and water bottles, and leaving the house in time to catch the school bus or be at work. There are always tweaks and adjustments and small failures.
But I’ve learned that the attention up front is worth it because it creates a durable framework for our family. When we have the right routine in place, we have the scaffold in to live the kind of life we want.
We are doing the work of routine right now at church. You’ve seen some of it already—the fall schedule, the new Godly Play room. We continue to think about our liturgy and our programs. We compare calendars. We document our procedures. The payoff? We can live the kind of life we want in this parish.
I invite you, in the coming weeks, to do this kind of work, too. I have heard from many people—families especially—that church simply fell out of their routine during the pandemic. I understand this. After months of sleeping in on Sunday—perhaps watching church after lunch, when it’s more convenient—it is hard to change gears.
Now is the moment when it’s easier. This is the moment to think about the life you want. Does it include more connection? Does it involve a chance to reflect on your week and prepare for the week ahead? Does it allow for experiences of beauty and transcendence? Grace Church provides all of these things.
So, plan for them. Count on them. Schedule in Sunday worship at whatever time works for you. (Kids play travel sports? The 5:00 service is there for you.) Look at the church calendar of events in the year ahead (it will be in the September Grace Notes), and put the ones that matter to you on your own calendar.
My prayer for all of us is that we can have the habits that encourage the lives we want. And I hope that Grace Church will be a part of that for each of you.
Yours in Christ,
Anne+