What does it mean to be connected?

At a staff meeting this week we were talking about the word "Connected". What does it mean to be connected to someone? To an organization? To an idea (mission and vision)? Is connection really something that can be universally defined? As we got into the discussion, we quickly realized that connection is largely a subjective issue, and is very difficult to define. A person can have a long term association with a person or an organization and yet not feel connected to it, and at the same time, someone can have one, powerful experience with a person or organization and feel strongly connected.

The one word that kept coming to me during the whole conversation is "Relationship". Being connected to someone or something was evidenced by the presence of a relationship, not just an association.

This got me thinking about what we do in worship, because in worship, we try to encourage peoples relationship with God. Oftentimes, the result of doing this well is that a relationship is built with our church, and with the members of our congregation. This purpose should never be of first importance, worship is and should always be about glorifying God. But we can be mindful of the relationship that builds with and within the church. There are some ways we can be intentional in encouraging those relationships. This especially becomes important as we enter the challenge of worshiping without our sanctuary.