An Outreach Kind of Day
I attended a lunch today sponsored by a community church interested in engaging in a cross denominational conversation about outreach and what different groups are doing, are trying and succeeding at, and also what we are trying and not succeeding at. It was a refreshing gathering of people who love Jesus (something I am having a much easier time saying and feel less attacked about than which presidential candidate I support...) The timing was perfect for the two of us representing the church I worship at, Community Mennonite Fellowship (do I look like a Mennonite? Blasts some preconceived notions now doesn't it...hmm...) because we are engaging in our Faith in Action service weekend coming up this Saturday and Sunday.
The local community newspaper did a great job covering this event, complete with photo which I am in. You can read the article by clicking on this link: http://www.standard-journal.com/. It is really cool stuff.
The basic premise is that instead of going to church on this Faith in Action Sunday, we actually serve as the church in our community, by putting our faith in action. I read about the original concept in Outreach Magazine, in an article titled, Church is Cancelled, Service Begins. Catchy, huh? So several churches have actually cancelled their services on Sunday and gone out to serve. After all Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and got blasted for it by the Pharisees (the rule keepers of the day). But Jesus asked, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" (Luke 5:17). In my way of thinking,what could be more life giving than sharing the love of Christ with those who have not yet been touched by that love by going out and serving in the community.
The Sabbath is still protected and revered by some, so for now some of our service will take place on Saturday and some on Sunday but I think what was the most confusing to me was the position taken of not working on the Sabbath so our manual work projects were shifted to Saturday. But then one of the individuals who had strong feelings about this is not participating because she ended up being scheduled to work on Sunday afternoon. There was just a disconnect there for me. I didn't get it and was a bit sad that we didn't embrace the campaign in its fullest sense. But strong traditions are hard to reconstruct, and I am thrilled that we are starting somewhere.
The lunch was a time of sharing and feeling unity amongst ourselves as "the church" and not a particular denomination.
And for that I was thankful.
The local community newspaper did a great job covering this event, complete with photo which I am in. You can read the article by clicking on this link: http://www.standard-journal.com/. It is really cool stuff.
The basic premise is that instead of going to church on this Faith in Action Sunday, we actually serve as the church in our community, by putting our faith in action. I read about the original concept in Outreach Magazine, in an article titled, Church is Cancelled, Service Begins. Catchy, huh? So several churches have actually cancelled their services on Sunday and gone out to serve. After all Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and got blasted for it by the Pharisees (the rule keepers of the day). But Jesus asked, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" (Luke 5:17). In my way of thinking,what could be more life giving than sharing the love of Christ with those who have not yet been touched by that love by going out and serving in the community.
The Sabbath is still protected and revered by some, so for now some of our service will take place on Saturday and some on Sunday but I think what was the most confusing to me was the position taken of not working on the Sabbath so our manual work projects were shifted to Saturday. But then one of the individuals who had strong feelings about this is not participating because she ended up being scheduled to work on Sunday afternoon. There was just a disconnect there for me. I didn't get it and was a bit sad that we didn't embrace the campaign in its fullest sense. But strong traditions are hard to reconstruct, and I am thrilled that we are starting somewhere.
The lunch was a time of sharing and feeling unity amongst ourselves as "the church" and not a particular denomination.
And for that I was thankful.
Labels: Faith in Action, Jesus, Milton Standar-Journal, Sabbath, serving
posted by www.kathypride.com at
10:04 PM
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