Summer Rhythms

By Joel Cook, Worship Pastor, Grace Northridge, San Antonio, TX

As we entered the summer season, our church set out to be intentional AND proactive to set a slower pace. We not only wanted to take advantage of any respite the world’s calendar may offer, but we also wanted to pursue the gift of rest God has promised us. While that sounds lovely to most people, it is not easy to do. It often feels like an uphill battle of saying “no” to invitations or undue expectations, setting uncommon boundaries, resisting the urge to keep filling our storehouses and choosing meditation over media.

Not only in the summer but year-round, Grace Northridge is committed to resisting the culture of overwork and striving, choosing instead to trust in God’s provision. Rest is a holy practice—an act of faith that reminds us that we are not defined by our productivity.

To achieve this, we like to hold on to three key ideas about rest and the practice of Sabbath as we take up this commitment:

Sabbath is a gift to be lived out. 

Rest is not just about taking a break but about intentionally creating space to enjoy God and one another. This is not the same as a vacation, though that kind of recreational joy is beautiful and often intersects with Sabbath. The gift of Sabbath is more about stopping, looking around and appreciating what is already there, including your community, your plenteous resources and God’s own presence.

We trust God’s provision over our own efforts. 

True rest comes when we acknowledge that we are not in control and that God is sufficient to meet our needs. Stopping and observing a Sabbath rest is often harder than it seems. Especially in the modern Western world, self-reliance and productivity are so deeply ingrained in our daily habits that it feels strange to let go of our sense of control and trust God with the most important parts of our lives. When we stop making and doing—lie fallow—it may look like nothing is happening. But beneath the surface, a fallow field is doing holy work: restoring nutrients, rebuilding soil, preparing for the next harvest.

We slow down to hear God’s voice. 

Creating margin allows us to listen, reflect and be fully present in His presence. We want to learn how to do this well with the help of Practicing the Way and the Sabbath Practice. They have excellent teaching and guidance for how to practice this as a community and individually. Around 20% of our congregation have used this to learn about practicing Sabbath in Life Groups, Practice Groups or the Sunday Morning Spiritual Formation Class this summer.

How This is Present in Our Church Programming

JUNE 

In the area of children and families this year, we did not do a large-scale VBS program. Instead of working hard to create a beautiful, exciting event like we’ve typically had in summer, we focused on learning to slow down, look around and appreciate what and who we have around us already—a beautiful community, beautiful families and a beautiful garden through Families on the Farm. Each week, we heard parables of Jesus and spent time tending and admiring our community garden, facilitated by parishioner and Noonday Farms founder Amy Brown.

Likewise, the student ministry did not spend its energy on a trip away, as awesome as those are; but rather we explored opportunities to serve and dig deep through partnering with an internal ministry at Grace: Noonday Farms. This time created a space for service and intentional reflection through garden analogies on ending, surrender, digging and play.

In the area of corporate worship, we took the opportunity to go back to a single worship service. We looked forward to getting everyone in the room at the same time, to reducing volunteer roles and increasing community fellowship, as well as making space for the Sabbath Practice course and the Confirmation Class, before and after corporate worship, respectively.

JULY 

We again took up what we pioneered last year: Fallow July. During the month, we minimized volunteer roles and activities at church. Our aim was for the whole community to take advantage of that time of rest to rejoice in the simplicity, say “no” to producing extra for a season and seek God’s voice in the quiet and calm.

AUGUST 

Finally, on August 2, we will make use of our final single-gathering Sunday to again set aside time to call on God’s healing power in our community through the gift of prayer. We look forward to seeing how God will speak and work after this season of rest and fill us up with his own power and presence, preparing us to move into the school year season with joy and resilience.

We look forward to growing in our reliance on our abundantly generous God, who himself rested on the seventh day, looking at all his creation and declaring it good.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV

Joel Cook grew up in Florida but is a Texan by birth and at heart. Joel graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in music. During his time at Trinity, he met his lovely and literarily gifted wife, Emily, and also began sensing a call to ministry using his musical gifts through his involvement at Reformed University Fellowship on campus. Following that call, Joel has served on staff at several churches, involving music ministry, youth ministry, discipleship, preaching and pastoral leadership for the last 19 years. He received a Master of Arts in theological studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in 2019 and has been on staff at Grace Northridge Anglican Church since 2020. Joel was ordained as a deacon in the AMiA in January of 2026 and looks forward to subsequent ordination to the priesthood on August 7 of this year and commensurate pastoral ministry down the road. He and Emily have four delightful, musical and rambunctious children: Teddy (12), Eliza (9), Lewis (7) and Alden (2).