I am so incredibly thankful for how God inspires His people! Yesterday, I was enjoying a Po' Boy Sub and a Mountain Dew Baja Blast while taking a walk around Moody "Long Acre" Park (interested in that story? Check out my blog of 40 Days of Plenty!) and God used that time as a moment to consider how our church could include the park in, not only our outreach ministry, but to enhance the way we live and breathe Christ on the Sabbath Day!
For a while we have come together for discipleship and worship on Sunday mornings, had some form of fellowship by people asking others to join them for lunch after the service, and ended the day with a Bible study for a handful of people that didn't want to see doing something on Sunday nights disappear. It has been encouraging to be a part of a church family that is so welcoming to everyone and their desire of growing closer in their relationship to God. It's dawned on me that we talk about wanting to get in the habit of praying more, but we get so rushed that prayer ends up being a last minute effort. I've always been told to brush my teeth for 3 minutes to get the best results, but it's even hard for me to spend more than that length of time talking with God. It is definitely a need to get in the habit of prayer, so that it becomes less of a discomfort and more of a natural communication with the very One Who created us.
After I got back to the church from my walk, I wrote out a simple sketch of what Sundays could look like, and talked to the pastor about it. With a little tweaking we worked together and saw how we could start making a new flow happen on Sundays, and this is what we came up with!
Parkview Church of the Nazarene, Sunday's Schedule:
9:30am Sunday School/ BREAKOUT Sunday Skool Clusters
10:45am Morning Worship
11:15am Children's Church
12:00pm Sunday In the Park (we are starting this as an event to celebrate Fill the Pew Sunday on April 29, and then seeing how well it goes and if there are those that want to continue it and how often. Basically, everyone will bring their own pic-nick style lunches, and a little extra if anyone feels like sharing, and after lunch we have the park to enjoy sand volleyball, tennis, walking track around the pond, playground and exercise stations, baseball, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, etc.)
once a month the afternoon will consist of:
3:00pm BREAKOUT Teen360 Huddle (training for our volunteer adult youth ministries team)
4:00pm BREAKOUT Student Leader Huddle (training for students who have accepted Christ and have the desire to use their gifts in ministry)
Sunday evenings focus on finishing the day in our time with God
5:00pm Adult Bible Study/ BREAKOUT Student-Led Ministries (student leaders will head up ministries in Youth Worship Team, Drama Team, Video and Photography Team, Sports Teams, etc. The list continues to grow based on the desires of our student leaders, and each team begins their time with a 5-10 minute devotional and prayer!)
6:00pm Quiet Time with God (we'll start out in prayer, and keep going as the Holy Spirit leads us. How long this lasts is not up to us to schedule. Any time someone feels like they need to use this time to study God's Word in a quiet setting, this will be the place for that too!)
After Quiet Time with God, we'll do what we are calling "Let Loose"
Let Loose (everyone is encouraged to be God's hands and feet outside of the building. Whether that means just continuing fellowship by meeting up at a local place like Duncan Doughnuts, Orange Leaf, or the Bowling Alley, or taking it home to share with the family, that is up to those involved!)
I'm excited about the direction we are heading and couldn't help but share!
*if you're around, feel free to join us!
Parkview Church of the Nazarene (because Jesus was from Nazareth and was a Nazarene, and it's through His sacrifice we can choose His saving grace and spend eternity adopted into the Family of God!)
50 Long Acre Drive
Fairview Heights, Illinois 62864
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