During the summer, our family’s local church attendance can be spotty. As a two-teacher family, we try to make the most of our summers. When schedules and finances allow, we love to hit the road. Some trips focus on seeing beloved friends/family we only see once a year. Others include locations near and far in order to enjoy nature, art, and history.

When we travel to visit family, we attend church with them if they are churchgoers. On our RV road trips, we seek local churches if possible on Sundays. Sometimes we even hold our own family worship services wherever we happen to be. God is everywhere, so it isn’t hard to do.

Many ways to worship, one purpose

I grew up an American Baptist. My husband, an Episcopalian. We now attend an Assemblies of God church. It’s good for our family to experience different churches and other venues for worship. The familiarity of our own home church is comforting, but it’s important to remember there are many ways to worship. Here are a few of the wonderful worship experiences we’ve had:

• Yearly visits to far-off family/friends, including Sunday worship and Wednesday night services in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia (Assemblies of God, Baptist, and nondenominational, respectively)
• Outdoor Sunday worship service at a campground in Bar Harbor, Maine with other campers
• Sunday service followed by homemade blueberry confections at Stowe Community Church in Vermont—an idyllic and iconic New England setting
• A private, impromptu Good Friday service with our kids at the foot of a treehouse at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, sitting on benches made of hewn-out logs
• Evensong services and Easter Even services at my husband’s mother’s Episcopal church, full of music and meaning
• Sunrise Easter service on the east coast of Florida, looking out over the ocean as we celebrated “Sonrise Sunday”
• An intimate, family Easter service in our RV during Covid, with rain pounding relentlessly on the roof
• A high Anglo-Catholic requiem mass for a dear friend’s funeral—incense, stirring music, and all
• A personal worship moment for me, with God, driving into Rocky Mountain National Park as a rainbow arced down while Hillsong’s “So Will I (100 Billion X)” played on the car radio
• Too many other worshipful moments to count in nature among trees, mountains, rivers, and oceans

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. (1Chronicles 16:29, NIV)

He is everywhere

It’s critical not to confine God to one particular denomination, building, or way or worship. He is everywhere, ever-present. Jesus taught in the temple, outside among throngs, and even at a small dinner party with Mary and Martha.

Present and active in each of these settings, Jesus spoke His message by citing scripture, using parables, or giving authentic examples. He speaks in and through many means—scripture, music, nature, quiet times of study, or conversations with a friend. All of these can be moments of worship. Remembering to look for them and receive them is key. When we don’t, we may miss a huge blessing.

“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off?
Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24, NKJV)

Personal and powerful love

Because He is such a caring a personal God, He uses many means to get His point across to those who would listen. I have family and friends who connect with God deeply through the musical aspects of their churches. Others find great comfort in following a liturgy and receiving Eucharist. Still others connect with exuberant delivery by an energetic preacher (tip of the hat to Pastor Paul—IYKYK). The Francis House of Prayer in Allentown, New Jersey, is yet another meaningful place to me—a vast departure from the lively worship of my home church. There, I’m a Protestant communing with Catholic brothers and sisters and find it powerful and peaceful.

As for me, God speaks most loudly to me through His creation. I experience Him in the stillness of deep, dark lakes, on misty mountaintops, amid the mighty roar of ocean waves, and in wind whispering through trees. He reveals something of His nature to me in each of these wonders. I am so grateful for His willingness to know us individually and meet us where we are.

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:7, ESV)

Our mighty God will not be contained by or conform to only one means of expression. He is present, active, and binds all people called Christ-followers together as a family. The staid side of the spiritual family and the raucous branch of the Christian family tree have the common desire to worship and honor the King. I often think about my belief that we’ll get to heaven to find none of us were doing it exactly as it is in heaven anyway. Won’t it be wonderful to see how it’s really done?

I hope you find God in the church building, the cathedral of creation, and right in your own home. All honor and praise to Him, no matter where we are.

With Love and Gratitude,