Last night at program we announced that RISE: the series would be the last one until September. Afterward I was talking to a student who was a little distressed by this bit of news, she didn’t know what she was going to do after May 3rd (our last week). It got me thinking, why do we break for the summer and this is what came to mind:
1. To give ministers (and me) a break.
2. To plan for next year.
3. Students go on vacation in the summer.
Three valid reasons, but is it reason enough for us to stop, I mean as we build more ministers we don’t have to worry so much about burnout, and eventually I hope to get more speakers so that will allow me to get a break, but what other value is there to stopping?
I think it also brings up the issue of who is this program for, because we are trying to get away from the whole Sunday school model and we aren’t a religious education program. I would like for Resurrection and Uprising to be worship for students new or interested in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; unfortunately, it means we need to up our evangelization efforts. A lot to figure out; however, looking at this year, it’s been a great year over all.