c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Maybe you’re vacationing on a desert island. Perhaps you have to travel at an inopportune time. Perchance the dog ate your alarm clock.

Bottom line: You can’t make it to congregational worship.

What’s a believer to do? For starters, some say, don’t sweat it.

“The Sabbath was, as Jesus said, made for us to rest, and that includes going on vacation,” said the Rev. Bruce Hanson, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Mobile, Ala. “You can take God with you wherever you go.”

It doesn’t have to be complicated, Hanson said. Those who pursue a devotional life by reading Scripture or meditative literature during the week may continue that practice, he said.

The Rev. George R. Sinclair, pastor of Mobile’s Government Street Presbyterian Church, suggested that vacationers expand their reading lists to include texts _ he recommended Miroslav Volf’s “Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace” and Jonathan Sacks’ “The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations” _ that aren’t standard beach fare.

The Rev. Mark H. Wilson, rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Fairhope, Ala., said many Episcopalians take the Book of Common Prayer with them when they travel. The prayers and brief liturgies included there may be used whether believers find themselves at the beach or on a mountaintop. Scripture, too, may be read and, for those vacationing with others, discussed.

“In those times when we’re not able to be a part of the worshipping community, then there are opportunities for us to commune directly with God in whatever setting that may be,” Wilson said.

For those concerned about not making it to a formal worship service, Wilson said, “I think the guilt is really more self-inflicted than anything.”

“As an Anglican, as an Episcopalian, the corporate worship is so much a part of who we are,” he said, adding that he thinks everyone needs to be part of a worshipping community. But, he also noted, there are “times when the corporate prayers are not enough and we need our own private devotion.”

The Rev. Kathy Jorgensen, associate pastor at Dauphin Way United Methodist Church in Mobile, said being outside at her family’s beach home provides her time for prayer and personal reflection.

“That’s my time to listen,” she said. “He will talk to us.”

Still, noting that United Methodists pledge their presence when they join the church, she said, believers should, if at all possible, participate in corporate worship. In cases where people aren’t able to attend a service, they might even catch up by downloading their pastor’s sermon from the Internet, she said.

For Catholics, participating in Mass on Sundays (Saturday nights also fulfill the obligation) is required by canon law unless there is “lack of a sacred minister” or “other grave cause.” Reasonable causes for missing worship include necessary travel, being ill or caring for the sick _ not a good tee time.

For those unable to attend Mass, the Very Rev. Michael L. Farmer suggested taking time during the day for prayer and reflection.

“Faith life doesn’t rest,” said Farmer, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Mobile. Vacation could even provide believers the opportunity to pray more than they might normally, he said.

On Dauphin Island near Mobile, where the Rev. Philip Chance serves the United Methodist church, people might go to one of the bird sanctuaries to pray or read Scripture, he said.

For his own part, Chance said he likes to attend worship services when he takes a holiday.

“I really enjoy sitting in a congregation,” he said, noting that he doesn’t have to think about what’s coming next in the service. “It’s more introspective and more personal.”

(Kristen Campbell writes for the Press-Register in Mobile, Ala.)

KRE/PH END CAMPBELL

Editors: To obtain a photo illustration to accompany this story, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

Also see sidebar, RNS-SERMONS-TOGO, transmitted June 26, 2006.