Worship Weblog
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Visit to First Union Church in Cedarville, Michigan
(click for larger photos)Report from Betty Grit:
On a warm, sun-filled Saturday evening in early August, twelve people gathered with me at First Union Church in Cedarville, Michigan, to talk about worship renewal. Pastor Jeff Meyers and three others from the congregation had attended the Calvin Symposium on Worship and were interested in the projects of worship renewal that had been described by a panel of church leaders. They invited me to Cedarville to discuss what worship renewal might mean in their congregation.
In this gathering I learned that many families have vacationed in the Les Cheneaux area for generations. Throughout the summer they gather at family homes and worship at First Union Church. Others worship for many months of the year in Cedarville and minister in warmer locations during the winter. The church is home to professional musicians, artisans and people with rich and diverse gifts. We spent the evening exploring how a grant might build on the strengths of the congregation to engage in an intentional year of worship renewal.
Sunday morning the congregation and visitors gathered for two worship services. As we sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” in this space surrounded by water and wooded islands, the words “all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea” had new and richer meaning. On this baptism Sunday Pastor Meyers focused our attention on Matthew 28:19 and 20. He reminded us that this afternoon we would witness baptism. We were challenged to consider what it would mean to develop a concrete plan and practice to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded. Invited into communion through the words of institution spoken by a father and young son, we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.
Later that afternoon we gathered on the shores of Lake Huron for the baptism of 9 adults and children. As each person confessed faith in Jesus as their Savior and promised, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to follow the commandments of God, we prayed that all of us would have a growing awareness of what it means to be a disciple. What would we sing and say and do if we were truly to obey the Great Commission?
As the congregation of First Union Church consider s how a worship renewal grant might help them answer these questions, we are praying for them and for all congregations who are developing proposals to be submitted by the January 10, 2009 deadline.