They unload their SUV: kids (two girls, one boy), lawn chairs (two), blankets (one, princess themed), water bottles (one each). Dad takes the chairs, the bags. Mom hoists the squirming toddler. The girls don't need to take their parents' hands -- they know where they're going.
With pink purses dangling from their wrists, the girls take the lead, not through the double doors of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, but around to the side, where they lay claim to a grassy spot in the trembling shade of a young maple tree.
They're just in time.
The grass in front of the stage is filling fast, as family after family unfolds lawn chairs and lays out blankets. Shorts-clad ushers hand out bulletins and chairs to those who didn't bring their own. Uneven rows begin to take shape in the parking lot. Just behind us, a lone man sits behind the wheel of his sedan. A white-haired couple in the back of the lot tunes the radio in their PT Cruiser to the station that broadcasts the service.
The weather is not promising: Cool and cloudy, a chance of rain. And this spot where the faithful have gathered isn't a particularly celestial place. Just a side yard, a parking lot.
Still, for 40 years, members of this Burnsville church have flocked to the outdoor services, held every Saturday evening and Sunday morning from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
They come because it's shorts-and-baseball-caps casual: They sip coffee from paper cups, wave and call out greetings to their friends. The kids race up and down in the summer air while the band warms up.
They come because the musical service is strung together on the upbeat notes of a contemporary band.
