Annual Conference: Day 0

Sunday didn't count as A.C. day 1, because conference didn't start for me until today, but we attended Lakeside UMC Sunday morning. In the same spirit as my vacation, here is my impression of the church service...

...a typical small town UMC with a traditional service.

There was a staffed nursery, but nobody told us about it even though we "ran the gauntlet" all the way to the front row with 4 little ones. As it was, my wife happened to find the nursery, and the boys were eventually joined by one more child.

Service was traditional but rather informal. It was packed with other UMs here for AC and their families (running out of bulletins) and was a mostly elderly congregation, even (especially?) with the influx of AC attendees.

In the sermon, we were charged to make sure our children see us reading the Bible and praying - that will be a part of the mark we leave for them.

Later we spent some time at the beach with the kids. It was fun until Jonathan got sand thrown in his face. He was not very happy...

The beach at Lakeside is pretty small, and there were tons of kids there, most of whom were running and throwing water and sand. For some reason, the baby pool was not filled yet (I seem to remember this happening last year, too)- perhaps Lakeside would be well-set to fill the pool before West Ohio descends on the place with many clergy children and grandchildren.

After we put the kids to bed, Tara and I went for a walk (long walk on a short pier), where we saw a young boy catch a couple of big fish and a beautiful sunset that was worth the price of admission.

We then walked all over Lakeside and enjoyed the evening.

And that was AC Day 0.