Some people have asked why Sunday Reflections is part of the Day Camps Blog. It is a good question and here is my response:-
The world of CTM pretty well impacts on every aspect of my daily life but the core of my existence is to try and be a true Christian 24/7. Applying that desire to every aspect of life can be hard going but one of my favourite quotes from the movie Chariots of Fire is spoken by Eric Liddell’s father when he says-
“You can peel a spud to perfection if you peel it to the Glory of God”.
So that is how I attempt to live out daily life. When you work full-time in Christian Ministry it can become easy to think you really do not have to do or give anything more than that to serve the Lord, but that is a big mistake, if every part of life is to serve Him then that also means washing the kitchen floor or walking the dog or mowing the lawn or keeping Sabbath, all to the best of our ability.
Hence Sunday Reflections is a way of sharing how I use Sabbath to make the other 6 days even better, how the opportunity for hands on Children’s Ministry on Sunday mornings enriches all the planning and organising and training of others so that our Day Camp Program can be stronger and better for everyone it touches.
This summer Sundays (Sabbaths) have, of necessity, blended directly into the other 6 days with the starting and ending of Day Camp Weeks on Sunday, and the set-up and wrap-up of the residential Camps also falling on weekends. Of course the months ahead include Crossroads (the third Sunday of every month), CTM Board Meetings (on a Sunday afternoon every second month) and various staff meetings, frequently here at home base, but those events are more easily managed, so Sabbath rituals should fall into a more regular pattern- early wake up call from my Dad’s ninety year old cousin in the UK (yes I have been mean enough to consider unplugging the phone, but have never done it!), bike or bus rides to church (or early car rides with Pastor Nick), garden work and shovelling, afternoon and/or evening meetings etc.
St. Stephen’s also seems to be at a crossroads (small “c”) as several families have left the city and the pool of young children gets smaller. It is very hard to plan for just two children and since All Ages Gatherings are not well received by many at the best of times, to present them with no young ones present is a big challenge.
It would be good to think that we could function on a multi-generational basis every Sunday, but a number of people still feel the 19th&20th century models of separating out children from most of communal worship is preferable and this mindset is very difficult to change.
So as we enter into this academic year there may be some obstacles to overcome but there will still be a series of- “Sunday Reflections”!