Our house church only meets every other Sunday these days. And, our nine year old Golden Retriever, Lizzy, is fascinated when she is in the car and sees a horse pulling a buggy. There are three plain Mennonite churches within about five miles of our house and so, expecially but not exclusively on nongathering Sundays, I take Lizzy for a drive so that we pass at least two of those churches.
Last Sunday was a gathering Sunday but our prep was well underway at the time the Mennonites travel, so we went for a drive and saw a record 39 horse and buggy teams.
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To my surprise, I have discovered something that gives me pause to think.
As I drive by the meeting houses, taking care not to hit a horse or kids, I've become fascinated.
Two things strike me.
One is that these groups have tons of young adults and kids. These families have oodles of children and, no doubt, many do not stay in the church but, trust me, in my area many do and these groups are growing.
The second thing that strikes me is the body language of the people standing around outside waiting for the gathering to begin, even in this cold weather. There is obviously a sense of anticipation and expectation among these people. They seem to believe that something worthwhile is about to happen in their lives.
And, there will be no worship band nor light and fog show and no Ph. D. trained preacher.
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My wife's dad was raised in a plain church. I've never attended what you might call a worship service but I've been to weddings and funerals, which, for them, are very much like their Sunday Gatherings.
Every time I've been with them while gathered, the same thing has happened. I've observed a strong emphasis on their conviction that to believe in Jesus is to live in the world as a disciple. For these people, Christianity is a way of living, not merely things you believe.
To use the language of Hebrews 10, central to their meetings is spurring each other on to love and good works.
And, clearly, that emphasis works today as well as it did in the generation Hebrews was written.
In my faith tradition, our Gatherings once were also oriented toward urging the whole body to righteous living but not these days.
And, we are declining.
We must repent.
Today Lizzy and I saw 50 horse and buggy teams in a 32 minute drive, smashing the old record.
ReplyDeleteToday, in 12 degree weather, we saw a record 53 horse and buggy teams on their way to Mennonite gatherings. What amazing devotion to the command that we not give up meeting together!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't meet today because we were not scheduled to but, if we had been scheduled to meet, we would have cancelled to protect our old folks from the unusual cold and the inch of snow on the ground that fell yesterday.
I'm wondering how much attendance was down at area churches that produce big-time shows.