In the morning we did church, and we did it reasonably well. It was Harvest and we had all ages together. We tried to do something different, having a creative area for people to use during the worship. In the end only children used it, but that's okay. My big worry was that it might have been seen as something to keep the children occupied, which it was never meant to be.
In the afternoon I did something a little different. Just over a week ago the local landlord at the Pub took his own life. He was 31. The truth is that the Pub is more probably the focul point of village life than the church is. And if it's not the focus, it's closer to the focus that the church which in reality is on the margin. I'd been asked if I would go down and "say a few words". No one could really tell me what they wanted me to say, but they wanted me to do something, something I suspect to help them process the events and their grief.
So I went. And I was pleased to go. There were probably more people gathered in the garden in the afternoon than gathered in church in the morning. Does that validate one over the other? I don't think so.
What it does say to me is that it remains of utmost importance that we learn to hang out with the people we're trying to reach. That we learn how to live our Christian lives in the context of our communities not just in the context of our churches. It is so sad when Christians are so busy with church that they have no time for anything or anyone else.
I guess this provides the paradox of my life. As a minister I find myself caught between the busyness of serving the church and the deep call of God to connect with, as Jim Henderson calls them, the people Jesus misses most.
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