Welcome to the Rock

Fall is here and full schedules are back. I don't know about you, but sometimes summer, even though I'm no longer in school, feels like a sabbath from overscheduling. The sun is out and so are we, taking time to vacation, to play, and to rest. Then fall hits and school and regular programming restarts.

We honor that this Sunday with Kickoff Sunday. After the 10:00 a.m. worship service, we will gather in Fishel Park and take time with each other as we prepare for our regular ministry season. There will be food to purchase, a photo booth, games, and opportunities to connect with one another and various ministries of our congregation. In some ways, Kickoff Sunday serves as a reset, helping us adjust with the season to the church pattern of programming and ministries again.

At times, beginnings or resets are this simple. They might be commemorated with something small to get us going, to kickstart the inertia. Other times, we have no idea that a reset is headed our way, that the world as we know it, is changing around us. This was the case for so many on September 11, 2001, particularly the people of Gander, Newfoundland. Gander was a town of around 7,000 people until that day. On September 11, 38 planes were sent to land in Gander when they were forced to leave the skies. Suddenly this sleepy town doubled in population. Where would people stay? How would they get there? What would they eat? Were there babies on board? Did any animals need boarding? All of these questions and more came up with practically no time to plan or think in advance. Talk about a reset!

Join us this week in worship as we celebrate Kickoff Sunday, guided by the music and themes of the musical, Come From Away. What might we learn from the people of Gander? How could this be a kickoff not only of our ministry year but of opening our hearts and our lives to our neighbors near and far even more than we already have? How can we prepare ourselves for the unpreparable?