NLC Connect - Sept. 2, 2026

Back to Sundays. Back to Community.
For the past few weeks, we’ve been celebrating Back to Sundays at New Life.
And if I’m being completely honest, when you work in children’s and youth ministry, Sunday mornings can sometimes feel a little like organized chaos.
There are kids to greet, volunteers to check in with, questions to answer, things to set up, things that somehow need to be set up again even though you just set them up, and usually at least one thing that doesn’t go according to plan.
But over these past few Sundays, there have also been moments when I’ve had the chance to look around at everything happening.
Kids laughing as they play on the lawn.
Middle schoolers hanging out together.
Parents talking while their kids play.
Volunteers jumping in wherever they’re needed.
People gathered around tables eating together.
And I’ve found myself thinking, this is why we do it.
Not because church needs better activities or another thing on the calendar. Not because popcorn, bounce houses, soda bars, or family meals are particularly spiritual.
We do it because gathering matters.
Over these same few weeks, we’ve had so much to celebrate together. We’ve celebrated baptisms and heard stories of lives being changed by Jesus. We’ve prayed over our students, teachers, school staff, and families as they began another school year. We’ve blessed MCC school kits that will eventually make their way into the hands of students in communities around the world.
Some moments have been fun. Some have been sacred. Some have been both.
And all of them have reminded me that there is something special about being the church together.
Hebrews 10:24–25 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together…but encouraging one another.”
Following Jesus was never meant to be something we do only on Sunday mornings. Our faith goes with us into our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and everyday lives.
But there is a reason we keep coming back together.
We gather to worship.
We gather to learn.
We gather to pray.
We gather to celebrate.
We gather to serve.
And sometimes, apparently, we gather to drink an impressive amount of root beer floats.
That’s community.
As summer comes to an end and we settle back into school schedules, work routines, sports practices, homework, and everything else competing for space on our calendars, it can be easy for Sunday to become one more thing we have to fit in.
But maybe Back to Sundays is about something more than getting back into the habit of attending church.
Maybe it’s about remembering why we gather in the first place.
Because when someone is baptized, we get to celebrate together.
When a new school year begins, we get to pray together.
When there is a need beyond our own community, we get to serve together.
When there is food on the table, we get to eat together.
And week after week, we get to keep learning what it means to follow Jesus together.
That’s what I hope we carry with us into another fall at New Life. Back to Sundays isn’t simply about returning to a Sunday morning routine. It’s about returning to the rhythms that help us grow in our faith and in our relationships with one another.
So yes, let’s get Back to Sundays—but even more than that, let’s get back to community.
--Jessica Aquino