The Lord’s Day: Sundays at Southwood
It is 5:30-6:00AM and the parking lot is empty as Mike Honeycutt arrives to begin his Sunday morning. In the quiet of these early hours, he prepares for worship through prayer and reviewing his sermon and the elements of worship. A truck pulls in around 7:00AM as James Parker arrives to put all the musical elements together. Bob and Viven Scrip come in a little later to prepare all the coffee carafes for Sunday school areas. Hunter Blackwell and his sound team arrive by 7:30 to prepare the stage and electronics for the musicians and worship. The vocalists come with a cup of coffee in hand while Jennifer, Jessica and Joanna Hill arrive with instruments in hand. Early worship service rehearsal begins. Dee Petcher begins opening her nursery rooms while Ken Stuart and Nancy McCreight are preparing the children’s areas. Bill Bolton’s usher teams are arriving to get bulletins out.
At 8:00AM, a group gathers in Mike’s study to pray for the worship service and those involved in it musically, leading, technically and for Mike’s sermon. The building is coming alive through the people who call Southwood their church home. It is her people that bring the church to life. It is the bride of Christ who gather each Lord’s Day.
From the first strains of the prelude at 8:25AM to the last note of music at 12:10PM, the usually quiet building is filled with people, young and old, healthy and struggling, joyful and weary. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. All that happens belongs to him. We gather in worship to bring him the glory, honor and praise that is due to him and him alone. Walk through the halls and discover something about Sunday mornings you may not usually experience.
As you enter, you may hear “Good Morning!” or “Welcome!” by one of the many greeters. The nursery hallway fills with sounds as babies and toddlers cross over the gates into the arms of nursery workers and members who volunteer. Walk around toward the sanctuary. The Tower area houses tables with different ministries bringing attention to their area. Drop off your donations to Lincoln Village Food Pantry. Register for Women’s Ministry Bible studies or speak to Allison Bowden who greets you. Keep walking. Mike Honeycutt may be roaming the halls before the worship service visiting with folks. People are scurrying to get their Sunday school room ready. Enter the courtyard area and the Info Booth is ready with folks to answer questions.
Worship. The prelude invites you to come into the sanctuary. From the words of welcome and preparation delivered by Bill Nash, Jake Patton or Ken Leggett to the opening notes of the first hymn, people are coming in. Within the first ten minutes, the pews are filled. James and the musicians lead us in song so that our voices are raised as one to our God. The order of worship, the choice of music, the elements of the service are well-thought out, discussed during the prior week, and work together to bring us to the preached word. The hymn texts work in tandem with the sermon Scriptures. The prayers and confessions are to draw you to the the gospel, and ultimately to prepare you for preached word. The benediction sends you on your way to merge your Christian life on Sunday into Monday and the rest of the week. The quietness of the sanctuary is now filled with the buzz of voices as we greet one another. Mike reminds us to find someone we don’t know and speak to them. Remember what is was like when you were a visitor?
Back to the main hall. Adults are filling the Sunday school rooms in the Fellowship Hall. International students are meeting in the Library. If you sneak toward the kitchen, you will find the Bereans (our older members) feasting on homemade goodies. The Foundation Builders (families with elementary age children) mingle and snack in the middle hall while the Family Builders (families with middle, high school and some college age kids) feast on their wonderful spread and drink coffee.
Our PreK and Kindergarteners may be spilling into the hallways after being in Kids Worship with Tracy Lynam and her team of folks who teach during the sermon. They enter the Promise Path during Sunday school and learn about God through loud songs, movement, Scripture and activities that illustrate who He is. Mike and Karla Cash and the puppet team may also be found illustrating a lesson point through some colorful characters!
As you journey down the children’s hall, you may think you are on a safari seeing zebras and giraffes and the like. These animals represent Southwood’s covenant children in the first and second grades, also known as Truth Trek. Twenty loving small group leaders and teachers teach more than fifty eager, some quiet, some lively, and most importantly, inquisitive children who God is and what it means to believe and have faith in our Lord and Savior. The main themes that God is real and God loves you are reinforced each week through music, Bible lessons and small group time.
Back to the main hallway and the small conference room is home to our special folks. Billy, Katrina and Branden experience Sunday school designed for their special needs. Three adults and a student helper facilitate this class time and live out God’s encompassing love to his uniquely created children. You may hear Billy singing “God’s Army” or Katrina singing “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain” while Branden circles the wagons.
Head upstairs to find more adult classes. The large Life Builders and Cornerstone class buzz with newly married, new parents, and conversation centered around those life events. Down the hall, you will find the Singles mingling and catching up on their weekend and work lives. Across the hall, the music is loud, inviting our third and fourth graders into Highway 34.
Traffic lights and signs mark the way to study the catechisms from the Westminster Confession of Faith. The catechisms come to life by providing an engaging manner of understanding simple theology while at the same time giving our kids practical guidance. Each week reveals ways in which they implement what they have learned with friends and family. In their small groups, their leaders get a glimpse of the heart changes that take place in the kids.
Take a walk down the hall past the Hwy 34 room and you have stumbled onto the Ascent rooms which house our fifth and sixth graders. Ascent, defined as the act of climbing or traveling up, describes this age group as they change and climb an especially steep grade. They are being exposed to new challenges and are just beginning to develop the experience necessary to deal with them. This ministry helps our youth understand the wonderful truths of our faith with a special emphasis on how to apply them in their lives. You will hear music, see lessons via AV presentations and observe small group time where their leaders really get to know the kids, find out what they are struggling with, and help them apply biblical principals in their lives. While they may not reach the summit in Ascent, they traverse rugged terrain that gets them a step closer.
Across the street in the Lodge, seventh through twelfth grade gather for breakfast foods and drinks. Then off to the gym area where Bill Harritt and a team of adults gather their seventh and eighth graders for fellowship and teaching. Meanwhile, the ninth through twelfth graders gather in the Living Room with Jake Patton and another host of adults for the same. The Youth Staff reports that the Senior High Sunday school hour is under construction and will have a new look soon.
Meanwhile, back in the sanctuary, the 11:00 band is rehearsing. At 10:50, the doors open and music is piped through the sound system inviting folks into the sanctuary. This hour fills with casually dressed folks, many visitors and families. The warm, informal atmosphere invites one to come, sing out and worship. Many new faces can be found around the sanctuary. Mike prepares and invites one to come and worship. The first notes of Rick Dillon’s drums, Harrison Knox’s bass guitar and Chris Hein’s piano draw people to sway, clap, and raise their hands and voices in worship.
It is now 12:30PM and the parking lot is emptying, the lights are turned out, teaching tools are put away, the sound system is turned off. The building is returning to its quiet state. As this Lord’s Day draws to a close on the Southwood campus, the church is still present, just dispersed around the city. Our church is living, active, breathing, advancing the kingdom, not on the Southwood campus only, but in the work place, in the classroom, on the sports fields, in the kitchen, at the grocery store.