Boat-in Worship 50 years old

Today we attended the boat-in worship at Oakwood Resort on Lake Wawasee. We try to do this at least once in a summer. With cloud cover most of the time and a slight breeze, it was actually comfortable on shore despite the extreme heat we have been experiencing. 

The worship leader, preacher, and musicians are on board the Lily Pad II. The sound projection is quite good. Some people arrive by 7:45 a.m. to board at the Frog Restaurant and then worship from the boat. The service starts at 8:30.

Today I would guess there were about 40-50 boats that gathered around the Lily Pad. Some boats had two people, some whole families, including the family dog. A few boats are there every week to distribute bulletins and dog biscuits and collect donations.

On shore there is a fishing net to collect offerings. Most folks give a few dollars to keep this ministry operating. It has been going for 50 years. Lake Wawasee has lots of summer homes.

The service lasts for 30 minutes. During that time, there is special music (today a gospel quartet), prayer, a short sermon, the recitation of a believers' creed, the group saying the Lord's Prayer together, a benediction. Before and after the service as the people gather and then disperse there is recorded Christian music.

Today's sermon was on the Good Samaritan. Each week a different pastor of the ministerial association exposits. The theme and passages are already decided before the season starts. These are really short devotionals rather than sermons. 

It is about a twenty-five minute drive from our home in Winona Lake to the resort. Today we got a prime parking spot even though we didn't arrive until 8:20. Rain was predicted for later in the morning, but now at 3 p.m. nothing has materialized. Worshipping  al fresco is a relaxing change from our air-conditioned church. We are fortunate that the weather cooperated. 

Oakwood Times Two

Sunday we attended the boat-in worship service at Oakwood Resort  on Lake Wawasee. It was pleasant sitting in the fresh air.
The service is done over the audio system of the Lily Pad II boat. Worshipers can board that boat by 7:45 a.m. at the Frog Restaurant and ride over to the resort, staying seated on the boat for the service; bring blankets, chairs and sit on the shore; or cruise over in personal boats and drop anchor. The attendance seemed slightly less than past times, but the summer is early. Some lake residents may not have come to their homes regularly yet. 

Last night we attended the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Patriotic Pops Concert at Oakwood Resort. This was again outside, but the orchestra sat under a tent. We were farther from the lake shore though we could still see it to our right-hand side. Another pleasant time outside. The orchestra opened with the National Anthem, did several Sousa marches, a Copland piece, Armed Forces Salute (with people in the audience affiliated with the branch being featured standing), Overture to 1812 (no cannons but some kind of cannon noise) and several more songs. The audience was invited to sing along to a medley of patriotic songs. An encore of Stars and Stripes Forever ended the evening. 

As we drove home we could see a nice sunset to our right and the full moon rising to our left. 

Fine Arts Festival

My sister-in-law and I attended an arts festival at Oakwood Resort in Syracuse, Indiana, Saturday August 27th. When we arrived, we cruised thru the closest parking lot, and God provided us with the single vacant spot. That came in handy when we left for lunch.

Good thing we took our umbrellas because shortly after arriving it poured rain for about 40 minutes. Instead of eating at the festival, we went to a nearby restaurant. While eating, a gent came in from the charter boat docked at the pier. He carried some floral centerpieces left from an event the night before. He gave us each one, and went to get some more for other diners.

This sits in a glass cube that came with the flowers. Very pretty.

Oakwood is a nice venue, but a few more vendors would have been better. It was supposedly a juried show, but I saw no ribbons/recognitions displayed nor any instructions of a special exhibit of winners.The quality of the products was excellent though. Mostly paintings/prints, woodworking, pottery, fiber arts, and jewelry.

There was special music and children’s activities (balloon animals, painting, pony rides for a charge, face painting). They finally took the ponies to shelter during the thunderstorm, but one vendor had alpacas on display along with products made from the wool. After the storm, I attempted to view the wares, but the stinky wet animals were too much. I hurriedly moved on.

On the way home, we stopped at Tangibles where I had purchased my mirror. My sister-in-law purchased a very attractive wall art picture.

It was a nice opportunity to chat on the trip and during lunch though I purchased nothing.

Boat-in Worship

This morning we decided to get out of our routine. We visited the boat-in worship service on Lake Wawasee. There were probably over 100 people with us on shore sitting in lawn chairs. We estimated 50-60 boats parked around the Lilypad II which held more worshipers and the speaker and vocalist. The loud speaker from the Lilypad worked well. Probably 300-400 people enjoying a beautiful day at the lake while focused on God.

Before heading for Oakwood Park where the boat-in takes place, we had breakfast at Cool Beans café . The homemade raisin cinnamon toast was excellent. I don’t drink coffee, but my husband said it was good. All kinds of coffee-based drinks available. Their specialty is huckleberry pancakes, but because we had blueberry pancakes a few days ago, we went with egg dishes.

After the service, we walked around Oakwood Resort which reopened this summer after being closed for several years. We are hoping the restaurant might step up a notch to a Sunday brunch buffet. Right now, they have a breakfast buffet which is small and not very interesting. We sat outside on a bench watching the Lilypad head for The Frog where it is moored. About half a dozen beautiful classic mahogany boats grouped in a corner of the bay and then took off as a flotilla around the lake, each with the U.S. flag projecting out the stern.

By then it was 9:50 so we headed south to North Webster and Heart of the Lakes Antique Mall which opens at 10 a.m. Didn’t find any treasures though.

I believe Lake Tippecanoe also has a boat-in worship service; maybe if we get another gorgeous Sunday we will try it this summer.
Nice to live in lakes country.