I Thought It Might Be a Little Awkward
I was afraid it might be a little awkward. I had invited members of our Spirit Song Launch Team to join Sue and I for worship with the congregation of Prince of Peace Episcopal Church on Sunday morning. Father John Maher and I had become pretty good friends over the past 6 months, having lunch occasionally and sharing the joys and frustrations of planting a new church. We found we had a lot in common personally, as well as sharing common beliefs. The United Methodists and Episcopalians both come out of the Church of England.
He and his wife Carol have been working hard for the past two years, trying to establish a new Episcopal church in the Westwing area of North Peoria. John is an engaging pastor but, with limited resources, they’ve been struggling. This past Sunday they had (by my count) 48 people in worship but 20 were from Spirit Song.
We also want to target the Westwing area of North Peoria and Westwing Elementary School is really the only viable option for us to use. Therefore I approached John about the possibility of our sharing the school on Sunday mornings. I asked them to consider moving their worship service from 10am to 9am so that we could worship at 11am. I also proposed that we would help with the setup for worship at 8am using our equipment and making better use of the stage to create a more meaningful worship space.
In addition, we would use the 9am hour for our adult and children’s Sunday School classes as well as offering a quality nursery. Currently Prince of Peace offers none of those important family-friendly services. They would be welcome to make use of them.
I could see both churches benefiting from this arrangement. John has agreed and is seeking approval from his Bishop’s Committee to accept this proposal and have it in place by August.
I thought it might be a little awkward when our group arrived for worship Sunday morning. But it wasn’t at all. Obviously John had sought feedback from members of his congregation about my proposal because several members mentioned that they would be in favor of our cooperating together in ministry. John welcomed us to their worship and the congregation greeted us warmly and graciously. Afterwards, we enjoyed snacks and fellowship, and then our group stayed for a potluck lunch and meeting of our Launch Team. I’ll share a little about that in my next blog.
Blessings,
Steve
04-08-08 11:01 AM
Good morning Pastor Steve,
David and I both enjoyed our worship time with the Prince of Peace congregation. As you mentioned, they were all friendly, warm and very accepting of our worship time with them.
I feel that if all the issues are worked out, we will have a viable plan for serving both communities. I believe the Lord wants both congregations to succeed and he has led us (through you) to Westwing and that all your plans will come to fruition.
Blessings,
Barb