Winterfest, Lutheranhands and church

The annual event! Whether its a cool mission trip to Biloxi or a revivalistic, high octane weekend youth event, the annual event has been the hallmark of youth ministry. Now there are regular experiences with youth groups in congregations and maybe even conferences. But they are usually stop gaps between the big events. The events are powerful, transformative experiences. Kids are shaped by the faith of their peers and generational elders. I know, because I grew up in a congregation where the annual event was the thing that kept me engaged in the mundane experiences of the rest of the year. The rest of the year was, well, unspectacular. And if your congregation is one that is not too enaged in youth culture and youth ministry, then you might feel like you've gone from the mountaintop to the cemetery. The natural high of the experience itself gives people an event hangover which can last awhile. Often a few weeks. But the enthusiasm often wanes and the ordinary, mundane reality of life settles us. There is a spiritual deflation that occurs post-event in our church's culture. ELCA national gatherings can have this feel too. They happen only once every three years, so a lot of preparation goes into that one experience. Then it happens. Its awesome. And then we go home. Not so awesome. Sometimes lame. Church for my parents or grandparents, but not me. God was encountered at the event. Not in the weekly gathering or the monthly youth group meeting.
Some youth workers will take offense. I know there is a lot of good youth ministry happening in weekly and monthly experiences too. But what if there are aspects of the annual event that we ought to replicate in more regular ways? What if some aspects of "Winterfest" or the national gathering became part of our dna as church; in worship, learning, and mission? These events are so well done. Like so many continuing ed. events I have attended over the years. Then we leave these best practices behind to return to an untransformed, unspectacular church. What if we began to interpret these annual practices as a way of life? What if we lived like everything post-Easter is an event? What if we lived like this is the new age of the kingdom? What if we lived like the eucharist was the big event? Like the neighborhood meal, the clothing distribution, the after school club, the prisoner-release ministry, and the bowling fellowship was an event? What if we were a non-event, non-prgram church---whom simply lived like everything matters, like evrything counts, like everything is new?
I'd like to gather a team of people who might be ready to be the church offering the best of itself to our world evrey time we gather. I think daily life is the event! Every moment is an event. Every hour is an opportunity to experience the wonder of God, creation, and the gifts found in our relatioships. Let's become a non-event fovcused, non-program driven church. Lets be the church that is driven by the story of Jesus. Lets be the church that is oriented to a way of life, situated in a 21st century context that is ahaped by a first century, biblical worldview. Lts do it now.