Fun in the Summertime
Summertime in Edmonton is such a beautiful season. The river valley is so green, and after a long winter, people are everywhere outside, riding bicycles, walking, playing, barbecuing and more. Tourists are in the hot spots, enjoying the many amenities the city has to offer.
We love summer here as well. School is out, our childrens' activities lighten up, and we plan fun get-togethers with friends and folks from church. We get to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures, and Dejan can often bike to work.
However, we have noticed from our first year that summer is hard in the church. And it's not just in our fellowship; we have heard from others we know that it is city-wide. In summer, the church shrinks. Visibly. Noticeably. Greatly. Why, you ask? Well, it all has to do with two words: location and vacation.
Location, location, location
The real estate slogan about the pricing and relative value of homes is also very applicable to the church. Canada is all in the north; the "true north", they call it. And winter here has a reputation for being long. It typically stretches from about November to April, when things slowly warm to spring and then a nice summer blooms in late June. That is when school ends up here, and that is when people disappear.
Vacation Nation
Canadian university students start going a bit earlier, as their school lets out in April; they mostly return home until their next term. But Canadians in general take advantage of the warmer temperatures and relative freedom of the short 8-week summer season, and they go on holidays. Lots of them. Little jaunts here and little visits there, as well as extended holidays. And why not? When real summer is just 2 months, of course people should enjoy it!
Church Population
This generates a couple of interesting scenarios. First, our usual church population fluctuates and dwindles dramatically. Some Sundays it can be half of what we see during the rest of the year. On summer holiday weekends, it has not been uncommon to have only a handful of people.
Secondly, we get guests. Some people are visiting Edmonton to see family or for holiday. They usually go to a Calvary Chapel elsewhere and are always glad to come to a familiar church setting while away from home. Most of our guests, though, are people coming for the first time. The weather seems to make it easier for people coming from various parts of the city to venture to a new place, either by car or by bus.
Because of this combination, when guests come, they get a picture of the church that we have found makes most visitors stay visitors. It has been a rare experience for us to have visitors return and stay long term when they come first in the summer. Some years we have outreach teams (some of our favourite visitors). This year, it's just us.
Our Prayer
Some churches with multiple services switch to one service in the summer. Incredibly, some churches in Edmonton close church all together over the summer months. We keep plodding on. We are here week in and week out, just like the rest of the year.
Planting and growing season is not the time for a farmer to take a vacation. As church planters, what we need is endurance and to remain encouraged in the Lord and His faithfulness. Summer is a bit like a marathon for us. We love the weather, but spiritually, we are always amped for September when the people come back. So as you experience your summer, maybe even as you travel to check out a new church while on your own vacation, pray for us. We greatly need and appreciate it.
