A Message From Pastor Heather

After church a couple of weeks ago someone came up to me and said, “Don’t ever tell me church can’t be fun!” A huge smile came over my face because “fun” is one of our goals for our summer worship series Camp FUMCO. But why have fun in church? And why go as far as planning for fun in church? Isn’t worship supposed to be solemn, sacred, and reverent?

Well, yes, sort of. Worship is a sacred time that we set aside to devote to God. It is a time of reverence before our God who is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Sometimes the act of worship will be solemn. But solemnity isn’t the only way to express reverence or to experience the sacred. We can be reverent while laughing, giving God thanks for our church family where we can experience joy together. We can find the sacred in the silly as we reflect on how the presence of God can be felt when we are finding ways to play together.

One of the promises we receive from the Holy Spirit is the realization of the fruit of the spirit in our lives, which includes joy. Joy, laughter, and fun can be one of the ways in which the Spirit sustains us and gives us rest. The word recreate comes from re-create. We are re-created, refreshed, and renewed when we experience joy. Joy can also break down barriers and open us up to relationship—with God and each other. This is one of the secrets of summer camp. When kids are having fun they let some of their guards down and are more likely to make new friends and explore vulnerable topics like spirituality.

At camp, I have witnessed the power of fun to transform and soften hearts. 

One year, my oldest child, Sam went with me when I was camp pastor. It was a combined middle/elementary school camp. Sam was a freshman in high school and he was a leader in training with the elementary kids. Still, he had to maintain camp rules with all of the campers and he sometimes ended up in situations to tell middle schoolers they were breaking a rule. There were three middle school boys who were close in age to Sam and physically larger than him. They did not take well to this “little guy” telling them what to do. At campfire they would often throw sand and when Sam asked them to stop they would just throw more while looking him straight in the eye. Needless to say, Sam didn’t like them any more than they liked him. It was going to be a long week with these two factions testing each other’s boundaries. Then came the Aqua Lily Pad.

Camp Indianola has a foam floating mat called the Aqua Lily Pad. Only 10 people are allowed on it at any given time. One of the games during water time is to be the tenth person to climb on the Aqua Lily Pad which means the other nine campers have to get off by jumpin in the water. The middle school boys assumed a personal mission of making sure Sam had to jump off the Aqua Lily Pad as often as possible. If Sam was on the lily pad they would gather forces until there were ten people on it and everyone had to splash into the cold water of the sound. In order to get enough people on the lily pad, the three boys often ended up there with the other campers so they also had to jump into the water. Pretty soon, everyone was rising out of the water laughing and scrambling back onto the lily pad just to be kicked off again by the lifeguards. It soon became impossible to tell who was trying to dunk who and the middle school boys and Sam laughing with each other instead of at each other. From the afternoon on, the boys were inseparable. Sam started sitting with them at campfire and they no longer threw sand. When the boys saw Sam and his group of elementary campers out and about they would high five Sam and all the kids in his group. When Sam’s group of campers went on the Giant Swing, the middle school boys cheered them on, encouraging all of the younger kids.

Laughter and joy made that transformation happen. It was a Kingdom of God moment where enemies turned into friends all through the power of fun. 

There is no doubt that we can witness the Holy in solemn moments, in times of quiet reflection, and hushed prayer. But God is as likely to show up when we sing a silly song, smile at each other and have fun. So, let’s celebrate joy this summer at Camp FUMCO!