Am I the only one excited about the summer? Maybe it’s because we have been masked up and locked down for over a year, but I suddenly want to go everywhere and do everything! All of that bottled up energy is bubbling out all over the place.
Remember as your church plans activities, this summer won’t be a normal one for a lot of children. Most school systems are offering learning camps and/or summer sessions that are open to all students. It might be really hot outside, but many children will be learning in air-conditioned classrooms instead of digging for worms in their backyards.
Find ways to responsibly have Vacation Bible Schools and Summer Feeding Programs that work WITH your neighborhood schools. Keep a check on the teachers in your congregations and in your partner schools because many will be working instead of re-setting for a new year.
If you are looking for simple ways to let the families in your neighborhood know that your church family is thinking about them and wants to help them all year long, consider some of the simple but powerful ways to say, “We are here for you.” These ideas are happening at churches across the Sound right now.
- Adjust VBS times to hours that allow children in summer sessions to attend.
- Stock up a Little Free Library with books for all ages so families can fill their homes with quality reading material.
- Host a neighborhood book club for students who are at home this summer.
- Consider a Blessing Box that is stocked with non-perishable items. A teenager walking home from summer school, will feel the love if they can grab a box of macaroni and cheese as they pass your church.
- If you have an open lawn, think about popping up a couple of soccer goals! Nothing says, “You are welcome here” quite like a place to play safely together.
- Check with your local public library and ask about StoryWalks. They are giant interactive storybooks that allow for a safe and socially distanced opportunity for families to read together and explore the grounds of your church.
- Host an outdoor movie night and bring your neighborhood and congregation safely together under the summer sky.
- Keep having church outside once in a while! Let people see and hear your congregation loving God and each other loudly outside, even though we can be inside now. Choose to keep taking worship outside the doors of the sanctuary.
- Offer a summer evening outdoor book study.
Some might see these suggestions as having nothing to do with the work of the church at all. Others will see the list and intrinsically make the connections between relationships, literature, poverty, and growing together in Christ. All things work together for his glory.
Whatever this summer becomes for the congregations of the Sound, I pray that we look at each other a little differently this year. I pray that we will see with new eyes, ways to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Transformation of this big world begins with us… in our small neighborhoods.
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand-shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 MSG
If you would like to view past editions of A Message from Kim, follow this link: https://sounddistrictnc.org/category/from-district-lay-leader/
If you would like to connect with Kim please do so through her email, k.smith@nccumc.org