This Saturday evening we are doing something new over here at Heritage.

For the first time in our church’s 18 year history, the old hay barn on our property will be our place of worship. On Saturday. June 10th. At 6pm. (You should write that down.) The newly formed HPC band will lead us in worship – with banjo, piano, drums, beautiful harmonies and your favorite hymns that will get your toes tapping and your soul singing. We will share in God’s story together, we will pray for one another and our world, we will worship – connecting with our God and with one another.

After worship, we will hang out, enjoy a summer evening together, eat Kona Shaved Ice, watch children play Ga-Ga ball and 9-square in the air, maybe play ourselves, visit around picnic tables or the fire pit, as we come together to slow down, take a deep breath and find some peace in the midst of what can often feel like hectic and chaotic days.

We are calling this service that will take place on the second Saturday of each of our summer months (you should write July 8th and August 12th down too), The Open Door. We hope it will feel like an open door, as wide as the 30 foot opening that is the “door” on our barn – an open door that will lead you into an experience of God’s love and grace – an open door that will invite you into a time of rest, connection, and re-creation.

We won’t have worship on Sunday morning – instead we are inviting everyone to move from our Saturday evening worship into a time of Sabbath rest on Sunday. We hope you will share how you Sabbath with us online by using the hashtag #HowWeSabbathHPC. (Blog post coming tomorrow about the 100,000 different ways you might choose to Sabbath and some very basic guidelines to help you define your own.)

Last week some of our amazing volunteers built this cross in the barn and then whitewashed it for us. I love how it immediately transformed the space.  Christ’s presence just always does, whether it is an old tin barn or our road-weary hearts. The crosses’ vertical axis is actually the central support beam of the barn.  I love that image, for it is what we are all being invited into as we gather to worship on Saturday – a life that is built with Christ at its center. A life that’s primary support and motivating force is the love and grace of God we have come to know through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So join us. On Saturday. June 10th. At 6pm.

There is an Open Door just waiting for you.