'Blast Off' Sunday!

 It is popular, amongst the churches of North America, to designate one of the Sundays in September as their re-start day after the summer break.  These used to be called ‘Rally’ Sundays.  One church I know now gives it the rather more modern sounding designation of ‘Blast Off’ Sunday.

September, often treated by churches and educational establishments as a ‘New Year’, is a month full of promise as we once more take up old routines refreshed by our summer break.  And, in many ways, such an atmosphere of hopeful expectation is to be once again found amongst us in September 2021.

However, we know that in reality we are not returning to the calmer and less anxious days of pre-March 2020.  Although many of our organisations have planned to ‘return’ this autumn, none of us know how things will work out.  We have become used to living with such uncertainty.  Our diary entries are now, as it were, more often made in pencil than permanent ink.

Perhaps we never thought it would be like this.  We envisaged there would be a universally declared day of rejoicing after the last infection was logged.  Yet in this Virus War, although so much wonderful progress has been through the roll out of the vaccine, it doesn’t look as if there will be the equivalent of VE Day any time soon.

What, I wonder, is our reaction to such uncertainty?  At least two possibilities exist:

One is to be a ‘Temple People’ and value ritual and tradition, all carried out in a huge edifice that spoke of permanence and security.  I’m not sure this is the best mindset for today.

There is, however, another way, and that is to be a ‘Tabernacle People’.  Just like in the story of Exodus, we travel with God putting up our tent in the most unlikely places, confident that God’s strength, peace, wisdom, and joy will enable us to meet new challenges and situations with faith, trust in our hearts.  New contexts and fresh challenges come our way daily. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but that’s part and parcel of ‘travelling hopefully’.

So, September has dawned.  We’ve made a few plans.  We are putting our best foot forward and, with God’s help, doing what we can, when we can.  We won’t, I think, have a ‘Blas Off’ Sunday at AFC – but we are in for something of an unknown voyage of discovery.

p.s.  We recently worshipped at Southwark Cathedral and a report on that visit can be found at:
https://viewfromthepewsabbatical.blogspot.com