Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
Happy summer! When you read this it officially will be the season of summer. Church attendance always goes down in the summer. I wonder why? I have joked that pastors always are searching for the perfect “Jesus weather.” In the winter, it’s too cold to go. In the summer, it’s too hot. I guess that the perfect “Jesus weather” is 55 degrees with a light rain. Maybe that is the perfect weather situation to get people out to worship every Sunday. The fact is that attendance drops in the summer.
Why is worship important? Here is what I wrote for our “Story Connection Book:” There are three powerful things and life-transforming things that happen in the midst of worship. First, worship takes effort on the part of the worshipper. You have to do your part to complete the connection between your story and God. Second, worship is an intimate experience. The Greek word for worship is proskunEo, which is a compound word meaning to turn toward someone for the purpose of a kiss. In America today you do not kiss a total stranger. To kiss someone is to know someone and that kiss celebrates that special knowledge and relationship. Third, worship is not something you do alone. No matter how much you like yourself, you cannot give yourself a kiss. Worship happens in community right in the midst of everyone’s stories.
Don’t take summer off when it comes to worship. You can worship at our Cleveland campus (6515 Bridge Avenue) on Saturdays at 9:30am. You can worship at our Rocky River campus at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:30am. Don’t forget that you can stream our 11:30am Harbor Service live each and every Sunday either from our website (rrumc.org) or through Facebook Live (@rockyriverumc). Please do not hit the “PAUSE” button on your worship of God this summer just because it’s summer. I look forward to seeing you in worship this summer. HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!
His,
Rev. Dan
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