“Because We’re a Church.”

(Monday in this space I mentioned people praying together after worship during Connection Time the day before.  I was struck by how natural it seemed for this to happen in the midst of the noise and movement of people grabbing a snack and a drink on their way to Sunday School.  I said that loved it, and that it’s all part of the life of The Church.)

Once upon a time, I served that was having Vacation Bible School, back when VBS happened in the mornings, and a nursing home resident died early that week.

She had pre-planned her funeral, and it included having the service in the sanctuary at 10am and a lunch at the church at 11:30am.

Remember that it was Bible School week.  From 9am to noon, children were everywhere in the church building. 

The Bible School Coordinator and I thought we could make this work.  Kids were only in the sanctuary for the first 15 minutes of their morning.

A daughter of hers said, “Well, Mom always was involved in Bible School.  She hated to miss it these last several years.”

And so it was that on Thursday morning, as the Bible School people went from Lessons to Crafts to Recreation to Snacks, the single file lines slowed down as the kids saw what was going on in the sanctuary.

Was it morbid?  Grotesque?  Terrifying?  Not according to the parents, teachers, helpers, and children that talked with me.

According the adults, it gave them a chance to answer questions that probably wouldn’t have been asked.

And best of all, according to one grade school age participant, “That’s just what we do, isn’t it, Joe?  Because we’re a church.”