Beginning Again

September 6, 2014

Dear friends, family and readers,

When I was actively serving local congregations as pastor, the Sunday following Labor Day held special significance for me and for the churches I served.  The term I coined for this particular Sunday in the church year was "New Beginnings Sunday."  During the summer seasons of my last two appointments - in Northern Virginia and the West End of Richmond - the congregations took the meaning of sabbath so seriously that they even rested from the day of rest itself.  In other words, attendance at worship and other church activities fell off precipitously.  Folks were off to vacations, family get togethers, going down to the "Rivah" and the like.  I fought this trend mightily, but generally did not prevail.  Summers became the slow season of the year - church-speaking - and there was little I seemed to be able to do about it.

But in my planning for the church year, I would focus intensely in late August on gathering up my wayward flock from earth's four corners and return them to their pews once summer had ended and fall schedules resumed to where they had left off in May - hence my focus on the Sunday immediately following Labor Day.  Children and youth would be back in school, and adults once more felt the familiar strictures of their work lives and daily routines.  With that in mind, I invited church members to celebrate a "new beginning" on this first (unofficial) Sunday of fall by coming back to church.  What's more, I encouraged them to invite friends, family and neighbors who did not have a church of their own to come with them on this particular Sunday, too.

Believe it or not, this particular strategy worked most of the time.  While the crowds on "New Beginnings Sunday," were not quite the size of those at Christmas or Easter, they were a close third.  We celebrated our "new beginning" as a congregation singing our favorite songs and hymns.

 The choir, once again at full strength, sang anthems with renewed zeal.  Visitors and returning members were welcomed with open arms - we had a policy of no "church shaming," i.e. no one had to worry about being made to feel guilty about spotty attendance during the summer.  "New Beginnings Sunday" was a feast day of celebration, welcoming home the family members whom we had missed during the last three months and introducing ourselves to those who had never worshipped with us before.  These Sundays were among my favorite while serving as pastor.  Worship was a party - hugs were embraced and reciprocated, laughter and smiles became contagious.  It really was a new beginning for us.  It was just as the Bible proclaimed: "the old has passed away, (and) behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The reason I share this particular bit of history with you is that, like my former congregants, I, too, have been away for most of the summer.  I have been continuing to regain my strength and stamina after my rather severe relapse of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the winter and spring.  But now that Labor Day has passed, it feels right to return to a familiar routine and to carry on with posts on "This Writer's Life."  I would like to make a "new beginning with you and resume our online conversation.  Frankly, I have missed writing and I have missed you all.  So, it seems time to return to a more familiar pattern.  I can't say with confidence just how often I will be posting to this blog, but it should be more frequently than not.  I hope you will join with me in this new beginning and let us make the next leg of the journey together.

Cheerfully yours!

Stephen