This pandemic thing has been wild. With Covid on the rise, the new Delta variant and kids not vaccinated yet, I have been talking to more and more of my families – many of whom have entered the church building for worship (online, yes!). One mom told me, “I will do outdoor or online anything!” Now, I have been outdoors already with my families during this time: Sidewalk Sunday School, Outdoor Confirmation, and Outdoor VBS.

But my heart breaks to think I have families that have not received Holy Communion from me (maybe virtually, but not face to face). So I will be leading for outdoor family worship services on the lawn, even into the Minnesota winter. In fact, the last one will be the Christmas Program!

Why outdoor? To give those families a chance to be in worship face to face with their pastors, learn a little story as a family, and receive the sacraments.

What will it look like? Sunday mornings from 11:30-12:15 pm outside on the lawn. Bathrooms are available inside. Liturgy will be slim: Call and Response Welcome to Worship, Confession, Reading, Interactive Sermonette, Holy Communion, and Blessing. But all of it will revolve around what families are up to this fall.

Here are the dates and themes:

Sunday, September 19 – Come, and Be Blessed: Blessings, blessings, blessings abound! We will be writing and stuffing blessings into student’s (or anyone who wants one) backpacks, pockets, and/ or purses.

Sunday, October 24 – Come, and Be Fed: It is pumpkin spice latte time! Kids in costumes, a pumpkin patch, pumpkin muffins, and the blessing is a candy launcher! If it is cool, we will have our fire pits going scattered through out the lawn.

Sunday, November 21 – Come, and Be Thankful: With warm hearts, and warm fires, and hot coffee, we will gather to be thankful with a food offering, a prayer walk around the church, and a service project sermon.

Sunday, December 12 (Note New Time: 4-6 pm) – Come, and Be Light: Welcome to the Christmas Program! Students will sign up to be a part of the live nativity with a petting zoo, luminary walk, stations to be interact with the story, and of course apple cider, hot cocoa, and warm fires.

I will add to this blog post as I create the actual pieces, so stay tuned….more to come!