Preaching to the Choir

 

It’s been unseasonably warm here lately, which makes it all the more poignant to remember the very cold days we had in January. On Sunday, January 14, it was seven degrees below zero, and the choir was scheduled to sing at the 8:00 a.m. service. Some churches cancelled services, but ours didn’t. That was consistent with my father’s philosophy, who never cancelled church because of the weather. He always said that if there was even one person in the congregation, he would hold the service. (I’m not sure he ever had that few people, though.)

Back to the present. When the choir members arrived for our pre-service warm-up on January 14, we were all there except for three members who had other commitments and would have missed anyway. Our director, Karen Foote, has often complimented the choir on its dedication, so when her mother said we wouldn’t show up with those temperatures, Karen said she was wrong. To prove it, Karen took the above photo and texted it to her mother.¹

It wasn’t just a matter of preaching to the choir, however. The 8:00 a.m. service is typically the one with the lowest attendance, but even in the cold temperatures of January 14 the congregation outnumbered us. And that’s with the option of attending the 9:30 service online.

Daddy believed that the weather shouldn’t make any difference in how we worship.

I’m glad my church agrees with him.

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¹Karen is not in the photo. The person who isn’t wearing a robe is our accompanist.