misc. thoughts

Suddenly I feel really free to able to think about things having to do with the church, such as: how can the committee I am on be better in a myriad of ways by doing _____ or _____ or _____. Or, how might I help create a diversity of ages in the worship service so that younger people who happen to show up for whatever reason won't leave with their mouths hanging open.

It seems to me that people in their twenties might show up at the church for a variety of reasons. And sitting in the back, I do see some people in their 20s occasionally show up. I think the late 11:15am service attracts people my age sometimes (not meaning to stereotype people my age about sleeping in, but it is nice to have the extra time in the morning, and in the beginning, it was nice to have the extra time to decide to go to church in the first place). Also I think especially in the northwest where church attendance is so incredibly low, when someone in their 20s shows up they are actively looking for something-- for comfort, for God, for community etc. I don't think many people under 30 are going to suddenly start coming to church because of tradition or because it's their routine they are transferring etc. Maybe I am wrong!

When I first started going to the church I was looking for comfort from God. And I found it-- I found it through the familiarity of hymns, through messages about the love of God and through prayers about justice and compassion. So, maybe things are not as dire there as they sometimes seem!