How was church today?

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My observations in rural Saskatchewan and Alberta is that most amalgamations and closures result in most members ceasing to attend church at all if their church is closed. I would like to see transitional options where other forms of gathering and connecting are offered and developed before worship ends.
 
Makes a lot of sense @jimkenney12 but it might be hard to transition in the midst of grief. A church closing its doors is just so much like a death in the family.

A church located in my neighborhood closed 2 years ago. I had attended there in the 90's and still worshipped there on occasion. It wasn't my home church any longer but I felt some of those pangs when I learned it was closing.

It has been demolished now to make way for affordable housing. The build hasn't started yet and it's hard to see the vacant lot sitting there. I often drive past it on my way to the library.
 
To me, grief is worse when it is a transition to nothing rather than a transition to an alternative. Well done, it might even be a blessing. One gift provided by Covid to many people, the ones not coming back, was a reason to let go of participation that had become more habit and obligation than blessing. If the alternatives are designed as response to what is learned about the members, some may wish they had done it earlier.
 
The emotions are the problem. Often with a history of conflict. I have been in two congregations who eventually amalgamated or closed churches. The first one had four churches in an area up to 12 km away, the minister held the same worship four times on Sunday racing from one church to the next. When he retired, the interim minister was also a retired minister with health problems, he refused to do more than one worship but agreed to rotate. All volunteer energy was then put into making sure all the churches had someone to lead worship. A missed chance.
The emotions were about the “ towns people” vs the “ rural people”.
A questionnaire before amalgamation talks begin would be a good idea. It should also cover to ask who will need a drive and who can provide a drive to the other site. Oh, and all the emotions over the collected donated junk over the years….
 
Mrs.Anteater said:
It should also cover to ask who will need a drive and who can provide a drive to the other site.
Click to expand...
Wesley-Knox United (which has been the receiving end of a merger or two itself) actually has bussing for some of its members who need transportation, or used to. Not sure if it survived the pandemic.
 
Church was fun today...Camping Sunday. So we sang, clapped, had children involved in the service, and had a bbq afterwards. Sometimes I like to think big questions and answers, but sometimes I just like to clap and sing and eat hot dogs.
 
We are having an outside service followed by a potluck next Sunday, and I could give a darn about messages..
 
Thus the message and messenger went mist ... nebulous thoughts ...

We really do support a lot of foggy ide*Rs ... an then declare fear of insecurity ... something you can be sure of in defined circles ... some even say bank on it ... levees?
 
We watched the online service for Deep River CC for Father's Day and Amanda did a superb treatment of God as Father. By last evening there were 307 views of the service which is probably the most ever for a DRCC online service.
 
I led worship today at a church that is struggling, like so many in our area. Quite a few attendees approached me afterwards, apologizing for the low numbers, and wishing there were more to hear my message. I said it didn't really matter to me...I'm always happy if even one or two people get something worthwhile from my meandering thoughts...but I was touched that they wanted to share it with others.
 
We had a great outdoor service today, almost, but not, rained out. The message was a skit at which an Important Business Person hangs out at the entrance to heaven with the Angel Gabriela, and learns a lesson about the stewardship of Creation. Followed by a lovely potluck lunch, for which I prepared a loaf of muffuletta-type sandwiches. Yummy meal.

I would say our attendance is steadily increasing, and is now at about 75% of pre-COVID attendance, with the odd new face, which is a good sign.
 
We had a good service today - much of it with the children engaged in leadershipm music & celebrations of the rainbow. We also said goodbye to one of our office admins - the choir did a very clever video rendition of 'good bye' from the Sound of Music, which was lots of fun. We have the most amazing choral director. After church was a BBQ - and the rain skirted around us too fortunately. I saw many folks for the first time in a couple of years so that was lovely.
 
And I've just been back to the church to pick up my turkey to cook overnight (too hot in my unairconditioned house to do it daytime, but oven has a programmable cook time) and a pot big enough for my 10 lbs of mashed potatoes. (I have to work at 10:30 tomorrow morning, and the turkey and 10 lbs of mashed potatoes must be delivered to the church before then.) Strawberry supper days have returned...
 
For two weeks in a row, I led worship at my home church. It was surprisingly relaxed, fun, and uplifting. Although I put a lot into a service, it is also the people I am lucky enough to be surrounded by (improper grammar, I know). My sister helps, and she has a great sense of humour. Various choir members provide special music. Our numbers range from 30 to 35 congregants, which doesn't sound like much, but today...it felt like a happy family. One visiting couple last week (from Windsor) commented on how friendly our church is. Yes, we're all old. And yes, we probably don't have a lengthy future. But for now, being a happy family feels good.
 
Old folk may be better attuned to things that shouldn't be wasted ... like communications and connections lost because of artificiality ... AI ... that sit! Many mist it in the rush ... vapours ...
 
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