There was a day when most congregations had a Sunday School picnic or an outdoor service. They seem to have disappeared, which really isn't surprising because mainline church Sunday Schools are disappearing as well. The two tend to go together.
On Sunday we had our annual outdoor service at a Conservation Area a few kilometres north of Bowmanville. It didn't start out well because we were locked out of our designated area but a resourceful member phoned for help and got it.
It turned out that this was probably the best attended outdoor service yet. But it wasn't so much the numbers as the spirit of the event -- or perhaps I should say the Spirit. People of all ages were in attendance including four generations of one family. One of the couples with two young children trace the origins of their relationship to one of these services/picnics.
Our congregational committee did a fine job of feeding everyone and a couple of Lions wangled their organization's barbecues. Games were organized for the gaggle of kids and only one child fell in the pond. Adults sat in little groups and chatted. As I am writing I can hear someone visiting our outer office speaking of what a fun morning it was.
Of course we worshipped as part of this gathering with music leadership from several of our folk.
St. Paul's excells at enjoying the company of the community. It was definitely an enjoyable event and Christ was there.
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