Like several of you, on Sunday evening Nancy and I hosted members of the Concordia Choir following their concert at Christ Church Cathedral. Although dinner started late, our guests chose to sit at table rather than take their plates elsewhere. That blessed us with an hour or so of conversation with them. We covered a variety of topics, even a couple that some would deem controversial. It felt good to connect with folks half my age.
That reminded me that several months ago a group of MWPC men, who meet regularly at a local restaurant, invited me to drop in sometime. I’ve yet to accept that invitation, but plan to do so this month. I see these fellows regularly, but can enjoy a cup of coffee and connect around a table in ways not possible elsewhere. Ministry, like life, is about relationships and table fellowship connects us in a sacramental way. Indeed, the communion table points to the sacredness of all tables because of the connections we make there.
While I prepared this item, an invitation came via Facebook to “Dinner with Church Friends.” A quick look at the invitation list made it clear that I see most of these folks often, but, again, things happen at table that do not happen elsewhere. The invitation came from an elder who is resurrecting our Communication Team. Our elder envisions improving the ways we communicate as a means of improving our connections. [Please do not confuse these connections with ConnXions, our Saturday worship service. We support ConnXions as well, but that’s another team!]
What’s the point? As we noted during worship last weekend, when we travel in faith we can go places together that we will never reach alone. Because we belong to each other in Christ, along with feeding the hungry and loving God and neighbor, God calls us to connect with each other – not necessarily agree, share the same priorities, or even friend each other on Facebook; but connect. Along with our plans to grow in faith, reach out to others in Jesus’ name, and worship weekly, we need a plan to connect with other members. Please don’t wait for a program to make this happen. Invite someone to coffee, host a dinner party, ask a few folks to join you at a local restaurant, or take the initiative in another way to connect with our part of the Body of Christ. Whenever two or three gather in Jesus’ name, he’s in their midst. That connection blesses us all.
A final note: This is Youth Weekend. Our youth will lead all three worship services. Please participate and following the service connect with one or more of our youth. They could use the encouragement and any connections with them strengthen the congregation we all love.
Grace and Peace,
LP
mwpc-church.org
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