Extra Sunday, extra creativity in Michigan

LANSING, Mich. — Every fifth Sunday of the month, Lansing Central FMC combines traditional elements (music, prayer, Scripture and teaching) with the unexpected. “Everyone comes to the 11 a.m. service (including our children and teens) to connect, worship and learn together,” says Pastor Bruce Cromwell.

“Under the leadership of Associate Pastor Joanna DeWolf, the congregation learns Bible verses in sign language, dabbles in the visual arts, dramatically enacts scriptures, breaks into small groups to brainstorm ways to run daily ‘life errands’ for good and for God, coleads elements of the worship service, and more.”

“The biggest surprise has been the adults’ response,” says DeWolf. “One Sunday I needed one more person to read Scripture. When I asked a woman in her 80s, she looked up at me with tears in her eyes, ‘I would love to … but my legs … I’m just not sure I could walk up onto the platform.’ Everyone read from the floor that day!”

Then there was the stained glass art project (pictured). “I was afraid the adults would refuse to do it,” says DeWolf. “Imagine my surprise when the chairman of the board was the first person to hold up his completed window piece! One retired woman even used the extra supplies to lead another elderly couple and several Bhutanese refugee families through the project later in the week.”

“Our goal is to create a space where every person experiences worship and Scripture together,” says Cromwell. “We talk a lot about being the body of Christ, yet we so often segregate our children to their area, teens to theirs, adults to theirs. We want to intentionally set apart a time where all age groups not only come together but actively participate and interact.”

More about Lansing Central and their family services can be found at the church’s Web site: www.centralfreemethodist.org.