Remember to Play (at Church)
What do a water slide or an ice cream social have to do with such weighty topics as liturgy and mission? At the currently fastest growing congregation in the Diocese, amping up the energy at parish events that emphasize fun has connected folks more deeply to one another and so made real the community of love, grace, and forgiveness we all want our church to be.
The congregation of St. Anne’s, Tifton has over the past four years been coming back from a decline. After longtime rector the Rev. Jacoba Hurst retired, St. Anne’s dwindled to a third of its previous size. By 2008, the Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) was down to 98. The next year, the Rev. Lonnie Lacy was called as rector, and in the years since, the attendance and overall energy level of the church have gone up. Some of that has been, of course, the natural bump one expects when a new priest is called after an interim period. This certainly helps explain attendance in 2009 of 124. But the following year the ASA was 141 and last year it was 151. There is sustained growth of more than 50% from 2008 to present.
In considering numeric growth for The Loose Canon articles, I try to find something in growing congregations that might be useful to other churches. Obviously, there are many factors in growth, including the demographics of the area, which are not repeatable outside a given context. At St. Anne’s, however, one principle in effect that should be considered by others is the sense of “play” at work in our Episcopal Church in Tifton. The idea of congregational recreation certainly predates Lacy’s arrival at St. Anne’s. Some point to the hearty fellowship that emerged during the Rev. Arnold Bush’s rectorship in the 70’s and 80’s, which has continued through the years with fellowship events at the homes of several longtime lay leaders such as Roy Rankin.
On becoming rector, Lacy began by looking at the liturgical calendar for opportunities to connect the great feasts of the Church to events that express this other side of the parish’s life-a love of having fun together. At Pentecost, they borrow the name of the “Holy Ghost Weenie Roast” from a Trinity, Statesboro event and place it at the end of Eastertide. 
Pentecost Sunday is celebrated with high mass at the church. That afternoon a party is held alongside a lake. Some folks fish, play horseshoes, or volleyball, while others grill and share a pot luck feast. There is a bounce house and a large water slide enjoyed by both kids and adults. The Senior Warden might be seen sliding together with the youngest acolyte. This a time when young and old alike have fun together. The congregation celebrates its Rally Sunday on the first Sunday of the school year with a festive Sunday service and fun including serving a whole hog (and a priest has to kiss the hog as shown below with the Rev. David Rose doing the honors).
To the All Saint’s liturgy, they added greater emphasis to their Eve of the Feast celebrations with a carnival and Trunk or Treat. The adults fully take part with the kids and enjoy dressing up, decorating their cars, and giving out candy. Hay rides, carnival games, a bonfire, and a cookout round out the intergenerational fun. For Christmas, the congregation takes part in the Tifton Christmas Parade to have fun while spreading their name in Tift County as a vibrant and happy place. In addition to these, there are numerous other times for sharing food and fun. During the summer, one pot luck designated “Garden Fresh Day” to enjoy food from the gardens of the parish. A homemade ice cream social on the feast day of St. Anne gets deadly serious in its fun with judges rating the best ice cream.
St. Anne’s parishioner Leeann Culbreath says, “It helps that we now have two young rectors and an influx of young families in our parish. But that is not necessary for adding in more play to community life, and it doesn’t have to involve bouncy houses or water slides. Play can be had in activities like art, gardening, cooking, games, dancing, talent shows, or a good-natured competition for a worthy cause.”
Another parishioner puts it, “We know to expect the unexpected at St. Anne’s, and that keeps us coming back.”
The Church Father Tertullian wrote in his Apologetics that others would look at the early Christians and say, “See how they love one another.” So seldom is that said of us today. But structuring times for playing together can make a congregation’s life all the more meaningful, including its life of worship.
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Lacy says, “If we didn’t play when and how we do at St. Anne’s, our worship would feel very different. Because we know, love, and enjoy one another outside of worship, the bonds expressed and experienced in worship are made even stronger. We come to God’s altar pre-gifted with a deep love for each other, and we want to invite others into that love.”
This Holy Week just passed shows how play and worship come together. St. Anne’s enjoys a full Holy Week with daily liturgies. These are very solemn worship services. The Easter Vigil already has some unexpected elements, such as lighting a large fire in the nave of the church, which fits a sense of play. St. Anne’s also used resources for the Old Testament readings to make the telling of the stories of the faith more interactive and lively. Then when the congregation processed outside for an outdoor baptism with a child immersed three times in the water of baptism, the smiles of the gathered congregation express the deep joy that comes from bearing one another’s burdens and sharing one another’s joys. This was solemn worship, centered on dying with Christ in baptism and so being raised with him, yet it was also fun, joyful, and grace-filled.
Culbreath says, “Good play is usually at least a little messy. So we get to be real and messy and imperfect together. That is a real gift in a society that pushes the perfect image.”
Lacy added, “The relationships in the people of St. Anne’s cause our worship to be what it is. Because we have laughed together, we’re more able and ready to heal, grow, love and forgive together, too.”
Our churches are to be places of love, grace, and forgiveness, which are more readily found among people who have learned to let their guard down around each other and, in that vulnerability, have found it’s a safe place to be oneself. This is how a water slide can connect to liturgy and mission. How might your congregation consider the work of the people to include playful fun as well as solemn worship?
The Rev. Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
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