…No worries. Right?
When I was a child, summer began when I was able to peel off my socks, kick-off my shoes and go barefoot. With the exception of Sunday mornings, my entire summer was lived with bare feet and flip-flops. Summer meant freedom and the permission to do things off-script. Feeling liberated to do things differently, summer felt exhilarating. The worries of the other 9 months were suspended, and the biggest concern was fretting over which flavor of ice cream to choose from at the neighborhood Baskin Robbins.
For us, however, summer will have to wait a few more weeks. It was 41 F at our house this morning. Few of us want to tiptoe through the dew-lined grass with blue feet.
And yet, summer approacheth. With the release of our summer calendar this past Sunday, it is our hope that our church family will have multiple opportunities to kick-off our shoes and enjoy one another’s company in our beautiful mountains.
The first of these opportunities is coming up! We will gather for our annual summer picnic at the Deep Creek Pavilion near Bryson City in the Smokies on the afternoon of June, 2nd. Yes, you can come early and tube the creek. Or, you can simply set-up a lawn chair at the pavilion after dropping off your offering for our potluck dinner. After our time off feasting, and as dusk begins to descend, we’ll gather by the water for an evening worship service.
This past spring my studies in the Celtic Christian tradition have taught me about the Irish’s deep love and respect for nature. They believed that particular places and features in the natural world were touch-points for experiencing the divine. Sources of water, groves of trees, and high mountain tops were considered holy ground, and people flocked to worship by gurgling fountains and on craggy outposts above the clouds.
For many of us, our mountains and their diverse forest ecosystems have a similar power. Taking a cue from our Celtic ancestors, we will have three opportunities for worship outdoors this summer. The first, as just mentioned, will be by the water after our potluck picnic at the Deep Creek Pavilion. The second service will be on Sunday afternoon, July 14th up at Waterrock Knob where we’ll gather for a time of worship in the highlands. Our final outdoor worship service will be in the woods at Pinnacle Point Park above Sylva on August 4th. I hope you will choose to join us as we seek to experience God’s presence in a thin place—that is a place where the dividing line between this world and the next is very thin.
There will also be opportunities this summer for relaxed fellowship so that friendships can be sparked and nourished. In an attempt to identify the best frozen confections in our community, we’ll be meeting up at three different ice cream joints on select Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. Our task will be straightforward: Show up, devour a cold, tasty goody, and then judge the product we just sampled. At the end of the summer, when we have our own annual, homemade ice cream contest, we’ll announce which ice cream establishment serves the best desserts in town.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be hearing updates and testimonies from our ‘Have Mercy Challenge’ groups. Many of us have already been on mission to do an act of mercy to one of the people groups that Jesus directs us to show compassion to in the Bible. The intergenerational groups that have developed around this challenge are yielding fruit and changing lives. Together, we are proving that we are up to the challenge to provide care for the “‘least of these’ my brothers and sisters.”
Yes, dozens of our community’s children will be with us for our Summer Explorers Camp throughout the coming months. And yes, our children and youth will both be attending mission camps, as well. Our Being-Active-Living-Longer Club (aka, the B.A.L.L. Club) will be busy, and we’ll be taking in a Tourists Ball Game, also.
Why such a different slate of activities for these next few months? Summer provides us with unique opportunities to kick-off our shoes and do things a bit differently. Summer in the mountains provides us with different entry points into our faith community and gives us the chance to encounter God in dynamic and creative ways.
Besides. Who doesn’t like ice cream?
Join us this summer as we seek to be God’s people in fresh and authentic ways. But be sure to keep a pair of flip-flops in your car. Some of the establishments in our community have signs on their doors that read: No shirt. No shoes. No service.