I remember as a child, the church was a place where I loved to be. It was a place where I felt comfortable. A place where I felt safe and a place where I wanted to be. Even as a teenager and a young adult the same was true. Church was a place where I spent a lot of time. Even though it was a large church it was a place where I felt apart. Although I had a very close family, my family was a part of a larger group and it was my church. It was truly ‘family’.
In recent years it has become more difficult for churches to have that ‘community’. I believe that there are many reasons that this has happened. For one, families are so busy with other activities that there is not enough time in a day to get everything done. We are much more mobile today than we were years ago. Years ago, the church was the center of our social activity. In fact, the church was the center of just about everything we did. Today the church is one of the many choices that we make in our weekly schedules.
Because of these changes, it is important that we work hard on building ‘community’ in our churches. The smaller the group, the easier it is for people to ‘fit in’. Therefore, our Sunday School classes, are a good place to get to know people in our church. If you are not in a Sunday School class, find a class and get involved. We have classes for all age groups and it is a great place to get to know more people in our church. Let me encourage classes to invite those new to our church to their social gatherings. Classes need to actively plan social events to give new members opportunities to get to know more people in the church.
As a staff, we are trying to focus on having activities that will help build community in our church as a whole. The next activity that is designed to do that is our Movie Night. We have rented a theater at the AMC Festival 16 Theater on the corner of Vaughn Road and Taylor Road on Sunday, January 30, at 4:00 PM. The movie is “American Underdog”: The Kurt Warner Story. Tickets for this event are $5.00 and the concessions will be open. You can purchase your ticket on the church website www.easternhills.church or through the church office. Tickets are available for purchase on Wednesdays and Sundays before and after services. This is a great opportunity to bring a friend and introduce them to the people at your church.
Pastor Dan