On Saturday night, September 9, 2023, Melanie and I were driving back from Harrisonburg, and I received a call from Norman Boswell. (Norman is a charter member of our church and he also serves as our Sunday Custodian.) Given the urgency in his voice, I figured there was a problem at church. And there was . . . the power was out. He had already called Phillip Brown, who was on vacation, to notify him, for Sunday worship could be impacted. Norman proceeded to tell me that the storm which had rolled through that evening caused a large tree limb to fall on the power lines that feed our church. This caused the utility pole on our campus to snap. Power to the church was completely knocked out. Later, we learned that this incident caused homes all the way to the Chippenham Parkway to lose their power.

Norman reported that the police had come and secured the area, and that Dominion Virginia Power was en route. Once they were on site, Norman learned that this was a major job and that they would need to replace the entire pole. VA Power said that they could not guarantee that power would be restored to enable Sunday services.

Once we knew all the variables, I followed protocol and contacted Bruce Hage, Properties Group leader, and Sandra Lynch, Deacon Coordinator. The three of us are responsible for making the decision to cancel services due to inclement weather or other unforeseen events. Given the situation, we all agreed that we should cancel all Sunday activities. Waiting until the morning would give very little time to contact church members and all the volunteers who serve so faithfully every Sunday. So, we got to work and leveraged our resources to get the word out. Between Phillip, Sandra, Nell and our deacons and Bible teachers, the phones, texts and emails started flying!  

I pulled off at an exit and went onto our church Facebook page to post the update. When I got home, I logged onto ChurchTrac, our church software platform, and sent a mass email to notify the church. I also shared it on our Instagram and Twitter channels. We did everything we could to ensure our congregation got the word. 

Sunday morning, Nell, Norman and I met at church and stayed through the Sunday Bible study and worship hours to greet anyone who may not have gotten the word. I am thankful that we only had about 12 people come. Several were guests. It was wonderful to see Nell and Norman sharing about our church to the guests who came. We prayed with most everyone who came and offered God’s blessings on their day. 

While I was in the parking lot, a car pulled up and stopped. I greeted them and it turned out that they were just setting their GPS. I introduced myself and asked if I could pray for them. The driver was sort of surprised and said, “Why, yes!” “Would you please pray for my class?  I am a fifth-grade teacher.” We paused. I prayed for her and her class, and they went on their way. What a blessing! 

We never know when our regular plans will be disrupted! Perhaps we can view them as “divine interruptions” and allow the light of Christ to shine through us. Please be on the lookout for God to break into your day this week! Remember, the power of the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say or the thing to do. With God, we never lose our power! 

In Christ’s service,