Last Sunday, while visiting my sister-in-law, we attended church with her in central Pennsylvania. She lives in a small town in a long, wide, agricultural valley that is heavily populated by Amish and Mennonites. Locust Grove Mennonite Church sits at the southern end of the village of Belleville.
It is a large, relatively new structure that houses a gymnasium, sanctuary, large entry-foyer and exceptional space for classes and group meetings. They have ample parking as well that is accessible to the two primary entrances
We attended the 9:00 AM service and I was greeted nicely by a man as I passed through the door. Finding the sanctuary was slightly challenging for a newcomer (Debbie and Joyce had entered before me). It was a large area with rows of comfortable seats; it would probably seat three hundred if full.
A young woman was playing the piano and a young girl was singing with her. I've often wondered why more congregations don't use pre-worship time to highlight the gifts and talents of its people - young and older. I was warmed by the simplicity of this pre-call to worship.
Eventually, the worship team entered from a front room and took their places on the platform. A worship folder had been provided, but it did not include an order for worship - which sort of delighted me. The team included an older man (leader), a middle-aged man, and three young people. Their sound was not at all professional; I would call it functional and sincere. I appreciated their ministry.
The sound system was not helpful to me - as a hearing impaired person - so I missed a lot that was said by the leaders. One leader needed training in how to use a microphone, as he often wandered away from it. There was no mention of hearing devices being available.
One thing that I enjoyed was the fact that we sang a lot! Instead of the traditional three songs, prayer, announcements and message, this service was less predictable. The music included one hymn and several older worship songs that I thoroughly enjoyed. I frequently wonder why we so quickly discard worship songs that have endeared themselves to us in such meaningful ways? In addition, the PowerPoint slides were actually changed when we needed the words instead of the almost universal perfectionism of switching so precisely that we can never sing the first words of the slide. :-)
It became apparent that things were being done a bit differently since the church was observing a season of emphasizing world missions. The pastor did not preach this morning; instead a denominational leader gave the message.
Fortunately, he was a very capable speaker who knows how to project his voice, so I was easily able to hear him. Public speaking training seems to have gone by the wayside over the years. So many preachers seem to forget that they're speaking to a large room of people with diverse hearing ability!
Jerry Sauder's scripture was from Proverbs, but he quickly departed from it. He began with some very traditional pictures and a review of the biblical history of God's desire to have all nations love and serve Him! I felt myself waning in interest during these opening moments. However, as he progressed, I began to see that he was carefully weaving a very long story past our consciousness. God started with a plan and He never abandoned it!
I went from minimally interested to being fascinated with this articulate presentation of biblical history and the passion of our God for all people to come to know Him.
Jerry ended by returning to his original passage where he made impacting observations and challenges:
- Do we care deeply about our Father's desire to have all nations (people groups) reconciled to Himself?
- Does our lifestyle reflect seriousness (wisdom) or frivolity (foolishness) in regards to this task?
- Do we engage in the work with diligence or laziness?
- How does the urgency of the harvest affect our priorities?
