Dear Church,

How do we keep memory alive?

Twenty-three years ago today, I woke up to a National Public Radio news broadcast that an airplane had collided with one of the World Trade Center towers. I took my kids to marching band practice, and then I was going to finish packing for my first trip to London, to meet with UK Anabaptists. Instead, I saw a second passenger jet collide with the World Trade Center. I saw the towers fall. I heard the sky go quiet over Southern California as air travel was grounded. And I knew I wasn’t going to London on September 12, 2001, and I knew that the world had changed.

Today in the USA, we observe, “Patriot Day” – a day in the calendar for remembering, a day for keeping alive what we experienced in the past, and a day to reflect on ways to shape our present and future.

The problem with any annual observation of a historical event is that it only becomes meaningful in the commemoration itself. What we need are habits of memory. Regular expressions of our story that form our lives more deeply than an annual remembrance can do for us.

That is exactly why we gather to worship every seven days. By establishing a spiritual rhythm consistent with the creative love of God, we remember more frequently to allow that love to permeate every area of our life.

So, we order our lives to remember God’s creative love. We extend our praise and thanksgiving to God in worship. We rehearse the true evangelical faith announced in scriptures. We pray – offering God our lives together.

And then, following the rhythm of worship in praise, proclamation, and prayer, we remain gathered for a more modern invention called Sunday school. Originally, Sunday schools were tools of evangelism, created to teach literacy by teaching the Bible to children who were captured by the labor market at the dawn of the Industrial Age. Over time, we made Sunday School a more insular program of the church – a space to provide a lifetime of developing Christian habits and practices, while also providing face-to-face care and support for one another in smaller groups. We gather in these venues – Worship and Sunday School – to remember Jesus and to practice together how to know him as Savior and follow him as Lord.

This last Sunday, our younger adult classes (Young Adults – the “deluxe” version, Koinonia, Becomers, and Gemeinschaft) met together in the Welcome Center, and together made some decisions. First, our Young Adult class expressed a strong need to remain together as a smaller group, and we affirmed that direction. Second, we recognized our Becomers and Gemeinschaft classes were already in a state of increasing collaboration, and we affirmed that direction. Third, our Koinonia class was invited to participate in that increasing collaboration already underway, and we affirmed that direction. Fourth, we agreed that all four classes need space to retain their individual unique identities by means of a designated class shepherd(s), a regularly updated class roster, and more regularly group planned social gatherings. Finally, we agreed that we should revisit the need to consolidate adult Sunday School classes on a quaternity basis. Oh, and we agreed that Goldfish and Hot Wheels ought to be part of our Sunday School experience! 😊

As a congregation becoming Church Together means increasing the opportunities for face-to-face practice of the habits of following Jesus. So, we are seeking to enrich and strengthen our capacity for meeting together. Our older adult classes – Fellowship of Friends, Christianaires, Ambassadors, and Crusaders/Glen Adults are doing this work together well, and we are all blessed by their ministry.

The English word “patriot” comes from the Greek word, “patrios,” meaning, “of one’s father.” May our adult formational gatherings become “patriotic” – not so much in terms of bunting, fireworks, and nationalism, but in terms of remembering well Our Father.

Let’s go (to Sunday School), Church!

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net