Church Unplugged

Summer can be a hectic time in the life of the church. People are traveling, camps are happening, life is anything but normal. It takes a lot of effort and energy to put on a full church service. Maybe the summertime would be a good chance to rest a little. Do a session or two of church unplugged. Don't worry about having your sermon or the songs up on PowerPoint. Don't worry about dressing up. Just relax together and enjoy it.

It would be good to set the stage for this ahead of time. You don't want to surprise people, they don't like that. Build up to it for about a month to let people know what's going to happen.

When I've done this in the past it's been focused on table fellowship. We set up tables and gathered around them. We had some singing and a few words from the preacher, but most of the time was spent sharing an extended and expanded communion meal. Lots of bread and juice were available along with all sorts of other breakfast foods. We got to talk and laugh and share together and it was our church experience. Too often, I think, we separate out fellowship from official church-time, but fellowship is worship and it is empowering to demonstrate that.

How would you do church unplugged?