Community Sabbath (Week One): Bethesda Covenant Church, New York City

(Photo from www.freeimages.com #1531720)

"A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you; in it you shall neither sow, nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.  For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat what it yields out of the field. (Leviticus 25:11-12)

A few years ago, I read about a church in New York City that did something "radical and countercultural, something so outside the norm of ordinary church behavior and tradition that most who hear of this practice seem to find it either brilliant or highly suspect." (Amy Rohler and Adam Rohler, “A Communal Sabbath; One Church’s Annual Practice of Rest.”Congregations (Spring 2009): 33-34)

What was this unbelievable thing they did? They stopped. There was no sermon, no Sunday School, no committees, no music, and no services at all for three whole weeks! 

At the time, I was a busy full-time pastor of a busy little church as well as a full-time husband and father of three young boys.  When I read about what Bethesda Covenant Church did every year in the sultry dog days of August, I was thinking "brilliant" and "highly suspect" all at the same time.  It was brilliant because I knew in the weary church where I was serving, it would change everything.  It was suspect because I just couldn't imagine anyone actually pulling it off when there was always just so much to do.   

So, I poured over the article again and again. And again I was continually struck by the gift that was granted to this brave congregation.  With no ecclesiastical responsibilities, they could rediscover that the One that invented the church was not a cosmic taskmaster driving them to speed up and do more, but a gentle shepherd who was encouraging them to rest and drink deeply. Amidst the hustle and bustle of New York City, a gentle move of the Spirit and a courageous act of faith allowed parishioners to recharge their batteries, be renewed for God's vision for the church, and enjoy the diverse treasures of God's kingdom all around them. Recharge. Renew. Enjoy...it sounded like certain death!  "Our church would never survive!" I cried.  Then, I was reminded that, just maybe, death was part of the plan:

Barbara Brown Taylor on Sabbath

http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/sabbath-a-practice-in-death

We do need to die to ourselves. But with the Gospel, there is the promise of new life after death.  This doesn't mean that we will have more of what we started with. It means that God will give us a whole new quality of life; something we could never have imagined on our own.

In my research for this article, I was saddened to read about the death of Bethesda Covenant Church. After 130 years of daring worship, the church closed it's doors.  But not without breathing a new rhythm of life into her parishioners and into her city and into countless others inspired by a brilliant and suspect interlude in the midst of incessant activity. 

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.