A big storm was forecast to blow through last night and this morning, so when I woke up this morning to at least 4 inches of snow on my driveway with more promised and several other churches in the area already posting cancellations, I made the judgment call to cancel church today.

It's always a difficult decision to make as you don't want to deprive the congregation of their opportunity for spiritual growth, but you also don't want to think of them having an accident as they struggle through the county roads to make it in to the church.

Then there are a couple of other factors to take into account. Despite the fact that Wisconsin winters are very consistently cold and snowy, Wisconsinites seem to forget how to drive in winter conditions every summer. The snow then arrives and they turn into nervous wrecks and hide inside for the first few snowfalls. Even if church had not been canceled, they would likely have stayed home anyway.

Secondly, the TV meteorologists have a distinct tendency to spread doom and gloom whenever a storm system approaches. Lots of advice to stay home and stay safe. Great advice down south where they rarely see snow or ice, but here in Wisconsin it just seems overly dramatic. While I understand that their lawyers likely told them to err on the side of caution, it makes it difficult for pastors. Even if I didn't know who in the congregation had TVs, I'd be able to make a pretty good guess by observing who stays home anytime there is a storm warning.