We ended up cancelling today's service at Saint Middle School. A nasty snow storm yesterday, an unplowed parking lot down the hill in front of the school, a trailer full of our "church in a box" gear snowed-in and plowed-in a few miles away...it all conspired to make it too risky to carry on. So I sent everyone a message to do Morning Prayer and stay home.
Some colleagues will tsk-tsk - and if I lived right near my church, and if we had a church building (rather than a school auditorium that required the custodian to drive 15 miles to unlock), I'd be inclined to go to the church, unlock it, turn on the heat and the lights, and preside at the service for whomever showed up.
But I don't.
So the Senior Warden and I decided to cancel the service for this Sunday. I always second-guess these things, and I'm sure a couple of folks will ask why we cancelled, but if one of my parishioners got into an accident on the way to church, or one fell and broke his hip in the parking lot, I'd wish that we'd cancelled.
Ministry - sometimes it's a crapshoot kind of thing. The good news is that God is there for us, and we can pray and praise him, even when we cannot be there for a service.
Hey, I live right next door to the church,and I wonder if canceling church isn't the most reasonable option sometimes. Haven't done it yet--but just because I can get there doesn't mean it's safe for anyone else to try.
ReplyDeleteIn South Dakota, the only reason church ever is cancelled is if there is a "no travel" advisory. Sometimes I wish it was not that way--we've had some of our stalwart elderly fall in the parking lot and break hips, shoulders, etc.
ReplyDeletePastoring includes physical well being also, I think.