Fallow July: Embodying Rest and Pursuing Integration

For four weeks this summer, things look a little different at Grace Northridge of San Antonio—a little simpler. The liturgy and song lyrics are printed on paper rather than posted on screens. Children remain with their parents in the sanctuary for the whole service, giving Kids Worship volunteers a break. Hospitality volunteers enjoy a pause as well as refreshments are scaled back, and the basket for collecting offerings sits stationary rather than being passed. This is Fallow July, a time when the church seeks to embody Sabbath rest as a community.

It’s a month when less is happening outwardly, but as is the case when a field lies fallow, important work is taking place beneath the surface. It’s a time when the soil is restored and renewed through rest in preparation for the next harvest. And it provides space for the counter-cultural pursuit of integration.

“Most people are overworked, overwhelmed, anxious, alone, in debt and addicted to technology, substances, or both,” says Joel Cook, Worship Pastor at Grace Northridge. “What’s alarming is that it’s generally very hard to find a difference in those trends between people who claim to follow Jesus and those who don’t.”

Under all of these realities of modern life is a current of dis-integration between the physical and the spiritual—one that dates back to the earliest days of humanity. As Joel shares, “After the fall of Adam and Eve, the place where God’s presence and human life could dwell together—Eden—was no longer accessible. Sin caused a rift between God’s presence and God’s creation.”

However, “God’s kingdom is largely about reconnecting the physical and the spiritual.” The Mosaic Law provided a framework to help the people of Israel do that after the seven-day workweeks and injustices of Egyptian slavery. But it was limited, and no one could follow it completely.

But, Joel says, “Christ fulfilled the law, and all who believe in Him have the same status and inheritance as all of Abraham’s children. … No longer is becoming Jewish the only way to be in God’s presence and to be the recipient of blessing, including rest.” He quotes Hebrews 4:9-10:

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (ESV)

“Here’s a big theological idea that I believe this passage is making: To fulfill the original laws of Sabbath was to rest like God rested. Now, belief in Jesus is to rest like God rested.”

Applying that truth doesn’t mean never doing work. But it does involves asking, “What does it mean to have God’s presence and rest inside of me all seven days of the week?” Joel shares, “We at Grace Northridge are seeking to be a place which cultivates and models a more integrated life. We want to live not as dead, enslaved and powerless, but as alive, liberated and empowered in Christ. And this is not just an idea that we think is true. It is a truth which has bearing on our bodies, our habits and our time.”

He continues, “The church has tools and practices to help with this. This is a big part of why our Anglican tradition is appealing: we have embodied practices and liturgies, which help us physically and holistically live out our faith.”

As Grace Northridge intentionally simplifies in July, church members experience in tangible ways God’s presence and rest while preparing for his work in the next season. As Joel puts it, “Perhaps doing less work and less programming for four Sundays per year doesn’t mean we’re slowing God down, but rather giving him room to run among us and refresh us like we’ve never imagined.”

Listen to Joel’s sermon, “Why We Rest: Preparing for Fallow July” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.