Staying Connected With Your Church Community

Blog #18 Words From A Shepherd’s Heart

As I reflect on some things from my own years of parenting I realize more and more the importance of staying connected with my community of faith – not only for my family but for myself as well. As we all head into the summer months here are some thoughts on what it means to be parents who practice faith at home all year long.

I’ve shared this story before but it still stands out to me. When my boys were still in elementary school we had a pretty normal summer of doing some day trips to the national park, hanging out with friends, going on mini trips to visit family around the Maritimes, and just being at home. We also went to church EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY. I emphasize that because I was quite surprised when one of the boys asked out of the blue, “why don’t we go to church anymore?” I wasn’t quite sure what to think of this question at first because, as I mentioned, we had been going regularly. What was it that he was noticing? 

After some reflection, I realized that while we were going to our church services each Sunday we weren’t interacting with our church family as much as we usually would have. They weren’t seeing their friends as often, we weren’t having people over to our house as much, and some of the regular activities throughout the year were taking a break. I think it showed how much our family was connected with our church community the rest of the year for him to notice the change during the summer. What it also pointed out to me was that I needed to be intentional about connecting with my family of faith. I can’t just rely on others to do that.

I think we’ve all been noticing a disconnect that’s happened from the disruption of Covid over the past three years. For some of us, we’re just starting to get back into the most basic of rhythms with our church community. Instead of attending 3-4 times a month it’s been more like 1-2 times every 6 weeks. We’re still figuring out routines with school, extracurricular activities, friends, and adding church seems like a step too far.

Can I encourage you to rethink your family’s priorities, especially over the summer months? It is important to take a break and enjoy vacation. It is vital for our health and children’s health that we learn how to rest and care for our whole selves (our physical, emotional, and spiritual selves). Unfortunately, some think this means disconnecting from their church community. I would like to challenge that idea and say that the church community is where we need to come first and let the other activities fall where they may. 

I think of the word picture we have in the Bible about our church family – it’s described as a body. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about how God has given each follower of Jesus a special gift that can be used to encourage others. We don’t all have the same gift, otherwise we wouldn’t really be like a body with all of the different parts. What stands out to me is that if we don’t get together, we won’t be able to use our gifts for each other which also means we won’t be encouraged by each other. It’s only when we come together that we can actually live out our function of being the body of Jesus. 

The writer of Hebrews also encourages us to stay in community with other believers: “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Heb 10:25, NLT). This reminds me that my relationship with Jesus doesn’t take a vacation – it may look different at different times but it is always about my being in relationship with him. This is the same for our family and our church community. We may not be active together in the same way during the summer months but that doesn’t mean we don’t be together at all. 

Making our church community a priority in our family lives and rhythms models it for our children and teaches them where the most important relationships are. And if we don’t have relationships there, then now is the time to start building them. Get the contact information of a couple of other families that you would like to know more and plan a play-date over the summer, or a BBQ at the park. It’s not about making it stressful and more work but prioritizing where your energy goes and who you are doing activities with. Let’s think of ways to stay connected and grow even deeper relationships with each other this summer. 

Here are a few ideas how you can make this a priority for you and your family.

• Plan a playdate with at least one other church family once a month over the summer
• Plan to do some vacationing with another family from your church
• Have a BBQ either at your house or at a local park (it can be a potluck meal where everyone brings food to share or picnic style with each family bringing their own food)
• Connect with one new family over the summer and plan a time to get together
• Have an ice cream party and invite church friends
• Go on a hike with another family
• Have a campfire and see if anyone is willing to bring their guitar and lead some worship songs
• Have a big water balloon battle outside on a hot day
• Go berry picking with another family
• Invite other families to have a picnic after church and meet up at a local park so the kids can play