I once was a part of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership Fellowship Program. It was a really neat program where young clergy from many different denominations all over the country would fly into central locations and learn from some of the most innovative mainline church leaders of the day. It was through this program that I met many friends and was able to learn from church leaders in all kinds of different settings.
One of the leaders of the group, Ann, told me one time on a bus ride as we were traveling between several churches, that she had an idea called, “52 Equal Sundays.” The impetus behind this was that we have “high” Sundays and “low” Sundays, and we plan accordingly. Examples of high Sundays are Christmas and Easter. Examples of low Sundays are the Sunday after Easter or Sundays that fall on holiday weekends. When I was an associate, I usually only got to preach on Sundays that were projected to be low Sundays. The subtle message behind that is, preaching only REALLY matters when most people hear it.
Ann was asking the question, why do we take that attitude? Every Sunday is a new opportunity to worship God, and to be in community together. It’s a bit like this in the season of Easter. Easter is not just one day, but a whole season. In fact, it lasts 50 days and ends on Pentecost (literally translated as 50 days). So, while so many made such big efforts to make Easter Sunday happen and as meaningful as it was, let’s not forget that we are in a season where we get many opportunities to worship God, and our well of energy never runs dry.
Peace,
Jordan