Toolbox For Faith

Every congregation has a pattern to its life and ministry. At St. Michael for example, we do not schedule much for the two weeks after Virginia Tech graduates, because everyone takes a little break once the students leave. When I arrived at St. Michael, that end of the school year break continued throughout the summer. All of our ministries went into hibernation. Sunday School went away. The Senior Adult group stopped meeting. The Choir took a break. We offered worship and Vacation Bible School, but that was about it. Most everyone was still around. People didn’t really seem burned out to me when summer rolled around, but still our ministry virtually came to a halt.

Over the years, we have slowly increased our ministry during the summer months without much resistance and recently, I think I discovered part of the reason why. While talking to one of my long-time members, I learned that our “hibernation period” probably started because there was no air conditioning at church. It was too hot in the building, so nobody did anything until the weather started to cool off. The interesting thing is that even though air conditioning was added years ago, the pattern was so ingrained that nothing changed.

Sometimes we do things in the church for very intentional reasons, like not scheduling meetings during the two weeks after graduation, but sometimes we are simply repeating a pattern that may no longer be helpful or necessary, like going into hibernation for the summer. Each congregation’s pattern of life will be different, but discovering your pattern and understanding your pattern can be a tremendous asset for leaders as they plan for the life and ministry of a congregation.