Anonymous Worship

I decided to attend Northwoods Community Church this evening for their mid-week service. Northwoods is a sister-church of Great Oaks and is located about 30 minutes away.

One of the struggles for pastors is to find times when they can simply worship God without the distraction of being "in charge". It is a delicate balance on most Sunday mornings to truly worship God without worrying about transitions, cues, etc. As such, it is always refreshing to go to another church where you can be anonymous and simply experience worship and listen to a fresh voice impart the Word of God into your life. This is also why conferences are so important for pastors.

I got to the church about 45 minutes early, so I just sat in the parking lot trying to catch up on my Bible-thru-the-year reading that my accountability partners and I have been doing. (I'm only four weeks behind now!!!)

When it was time for the service, I got out of the car and started walking towards the building. I noticed a woman getting out of her car directly in front of me, so I shifted my course slightly to walk around the other side of the car. As I did so, she looks at me and says, "Didn't I see you at Great Oaks on Sunday?" So much for anonymity!

It ends up that she had been to Great Oaks two or three times - one of which was this past Sunday when I introduced our guest speaker and then led the church in communion. I explained to her that I was a new staff member and decided to check out Northwoods for the evening. Her boyfriend soon walked up and she introduced me to him as well. Ends up he was at Great Oaks on Sunday, too.

They invited me to sit with them for the evening, and I graciously accepted. As we walked into the foyer, we saw the auditorium doors hadn't been opened yet, but that didn't deter her boyfriend. Turns out, he was going to be commissioned during the service for an upcoming missions trip to the Dominican Republic. He promptly leads us through a side door onto the floor directly in front of the stage, and proceeds to introduce me to two staff members and an elder of the church. So much for anonymity!

Despite not being able to just be a face in the crowd, it was a great night of worship and celebration as they baptized ten people and commissioned twelve people for the trip to the DR.

My true purpose in going - to worship God without distraction - was definitely realized. The fact that I got to meet two great people who may begin attending Great Oaks and, as it turns out, may be wanting a pastor to marry them soon, was simply confirmation that God is always at work...even when I think I'm not...