Summertime Challenge

Summertime presents challenges for every church. People are very busy and mobile in the summer, and sadly, some families will disengage from their local church from Memorial Day Sunday until the beginning of school, or even after Labor Day.

May I make a suggestion to you for this summer? Don’t disengage from the church! Use the summer as the time to renew your mind spiritually, refresh your spiritual walk, and rededicate your commitment to Christ and His Church. These things are harder to attend to in our lives during the rest of the year because of the normal routines of life. Yes, take a vacation. You need a couple of weeks to relax, have a complete break from routines, just don’t take the entire summer as a vacation from church.

Study after study reveals that people who engage in a faith community on a regular basis are rewarded significantly by reduced likelihood of life problems and risky behaviors, and stand to significantly improve the odds of a happier, healthier, and longer life.

But here’s the thing… being engaged in the church needs to start immediately. For those families with children, studies show that if a child is not regularly active in church by the age of 12, the odds of them getting active drops dramatically in teen years and beyond. In other words, parents who truly want the best for their children should get their children involved at church now and regularly.

The Proverb was right on: “Raise up a child in the way they should go and they won’t depart from it.”

Supervised activities such as baseball teams, dance classes, and club teams, while helpful, are poor substitutes for parents and family and the development of the spiritual self. Though the influence of these kinds of activities are important, the long-term nurturing qualities and faith values that families provide to children are what lead to spiritual development and church participation.

Another saying is: “It takes a village to raise a child.” The church can come alongside the parent(s) and help stimulate the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of children through lasting and caring relationships and the teaching of selfless values found at the core of faith.

That’s why I want everyone engaged with the church this summer. Even though the programmatic expression during the summer is different, church life challenges us to become more like Christ. Church life transforms us inside out.

Blessings, 


P.S. Do you ever feel trapped in your faith because there are too many rules? Why does the Bible contain so many do’s and don’ts? How can I be free if I’m bogged down with so many rules? These questions create a tension for us concerning our view of God. Sunday at 9:15 and 11:00, we will look at the Bible’s answer to this tension. See you soon!