By Tina Teng-Henson

(Continued from Part 2–>)

From there, I proceeded to guide us through a Fun in the Sun service flow I’d created for a church up in San Francisco that I had interim pastored in 2023 when they had no staff. It was a simple service I’d designed for our congregation to do outdoors, to celebrate God’s work in creation, and to talk about climate change as a body. 

It opened with a hymn, a song, then had four scripture passages with discussion questions, before having three songs to close. The theme was all about how God shows up in the natural world as our creator, how he’s praiseworthy for how he cares for the smallest of creatures, how he wants us to trust him for every detail of our life, and how he wants to rescue us when we’re in distress. The songs paired well with the passages – This is My Father’s World, Praise to the Lord, His Eye is on the Sparrow, Amazing Grace. The one contemporary song was How Great is Our God (which opens with, The splendor of the king…)

What surprised me was that some of the residents could still read and follow along on the handout! Rubin helped pass out a few copies, and I tried to engage the listeners as best as I could. 

One gentleman, who kept beaming at me, read the Scripture heading of one of the passages! After that he faltered, so I invited Rubin to finish off the reading. 

One older woman read more than I would have expected an Alzheimers or dementia patient to read! She was eager to participate, and happy to read the passage out loud.

But even more, I could tell some of the residents really were tracking with the content. Whether facially, verbally, or otherwise – they were very attentive. They appreciated the simple messages I pulled out from the passages – they were able to respond to the discussion questions! This was so wonderful!  When the discussion question prompted us to look out the window and find a bird to gaze at – there was a bright little red and brown bird that showed up along the fenceline, sitting on the ground. But after it flitted off, we made conversation about the sleepy little squirrel that was on top of the fence – and how relaxed and happy he seemed. The Sermon on the Mount passage about looking at the birds of the field to realize how secure we can be under the care of God felt very convicting to me. I’d been very financially over-worried for several reasons, and reading this passage aloud made me realize I needed to let go of those worries and stop feeling burdened in those ways. 

As I worked through the program flow, I would address both audiences – the living who were present, and those who might be confused, lingering around, caught between death and life.  

I kept encouraging them that they could move on, and go, go to the Father heart of God. To the arms of love that were waiting to receive them. That heaven was a place where there would be no more suffering, no more pain, because the old order of things will have passed away. Behold! He was making all things new! I kept saying, they would be wholeheartedly welcomed home. It was okay to leave this place where they might feel stuck, because they had encouragement, permission, and direction to go home. To return to the Father heart of God – who was ready to receive them. 

And as I did so, I knew that those who were still in the room, eating their lunch quietly at tables, were also listening. And I encouraged them that as they finished out this chapter of their lives, that they would have a good place to look forward to going to when the time was right.  (Continue to Part 4–>)

Tina Teng-Henson serves as a spiritual director and hospice chaplain. As a wife and mother of three, she occasionally guest-preaches and teaches. When she’s not volunteering at her children’s schools, she plays volleyball, reads, and writes.