Two weeks ago the blog highlighted our congregation’s involvement in a research project, “Raising Faithful Kids”. Part of this project is to spend three months exploring specific worship themes and to have tangible experiences throughout, because a large part of each of our faith journeys is how we experience God.  

Some weeks our embodied experiences will require us to go beyond our comfort zone, and this week might just be one of those weeks. However, throughout this summer as we’ve had Know My Neighbor segments in worship, sharing of milestones, and organized neighborhood gatherings, I’ve witnessed many times your willingness to stretch yourself in order to try new things. Our new experiences often surprise us, particularly when we remember that no matter what we do or where we go, God is always with us.

These next two Sundays we will highlight the importance of sabbath and the holy ground we navigate each day. Holy ground is any place where God’s presence is recognized and honored, and tomorrow we will be given the opportunity to explore holy ground in a new way.  If you worship online this weekend, you are invited to spend the whole worship in your bare feet, allowing your feet to feel the ground below you and connect with the ordinary ground which becomes sacred. If you’ll be in-person at Christ the King, we ask you to pick one of the four options to experience holy ground.

The Bold Option:

Remove your shoes prior to entering the sanctuary, and place them under one of the narthex pews.

The Medium Option:

Remove your shoes prior to entering the sanctuary. If you need socks, select a pair from the table in the narthex. Either put your shoes under a narthex pew or bring them with you.

The Low Option:

Enter the sanctuary with your shoes on. You will be invited to remove them during the children’s message.

An Out:

Enter the sanctuary with your shoes and keep them on throughout worship.

Whatever option you choose, know that there is no “right” way to experience holy ground this weekend. The invitation is simply to notice—to slow down, to feel, to listen, and to become aware of the God who meets us in our bodies and in the ordinary places of our lives. Perhaps as we worship barefoot, in socks, or with shoes firmly on our feet, we will remember that holy ground is not limited to sanctuaries or sacred spaces. It is beneath our feet in our homes, along our sidewalks, in our neighborhoods, and wherever we find ourselves. Like Moses standing before the burning bush, may we discover that the ground beneath us has been holy all along, because God is here. And perhaps the invitation of sabbath is simply this: take off your shoes, take a breath, and notice.