BRING THE BAKES: Rediscover Life Together
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Dawn breaks.
A new day.
The jabs are in.
The reopening plan in action.
‘CORONA,’ my kids call it - is on the ropes and life can resume.
(Maybe?! Hopefully?!)
The pastors and boards unite.
Their plans for the ministry mapped out. Strategies and meetings and hope for a return to normalcy! The doors of our churches fly open ‘and all of God’s people say?!’
‘Wait a second.’
Are we sure?
‘Are we sure we want to go back to the way things were?’
Are we sure we want to resume church-as-was pre-COVID?
Good question.
Full disclosure: I am no longer serving as a Pastor, attending a church, or have a church to call home. (We’re working on it). And admittedly writing this makes me feel a little like Marley’s ghost calling from beyond: ‘[But] mankind was my business!’
Church or no, I would regret staying silent in this consequential moment in time. Pastorate or not. I care deeply about the church. More - the people who are the church. The flesh and bone and living memory. The kids, teens, adults - old and young alike.
Take it or leave it. Here is a quick thought for church leaders and church goers alike as they ponder reopening.
BRING THE BAKES!
You gotta ask: why gather at all?
Simple answer: gather together for togetherness’ sake!
The word Church means ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’ or ‘a gathering of the called out’. Imagine those first few Sunday mornings. All those ‘Christ-like-ones’ meeting on a hill or just beyond the common space of the city square. No building. No parking lot. No sound-check, sermon-prep, or volunteer greeter check-list. No nursery snacks, worship slides, or chair arrangements. They didn’t ‘go to church’. They were the church as gathered. Christians together to be together; individuals thread into community through Jesus. His mission was to bring humanity to fullness. He called those first followers to be trained up ‘in this way of life.’ The feasting, praying, storying, laughing, sharing, encouraging, loving way of life. The heartbeat of the Father way of life. The life that Jesus modelled. Life shared. Life together. We’ve erred if/when we take this for granted. Life together can’t be programmed. It can’t be sculpted with a clever order of service. It can’t be forced. Life happens as the Spirit enables.
When churches reopen togetherness (for togetherness’ sake) should be top priority!
Quick Ideas for the First Sunday Back: Forget the sermon. Scrap the worship set. Put out some tables. And bring the bakes! Stock them with a variety of COVID-safe baked goods and coffee and let the conversation flow! Swap stories. Share insights. Grieve lost time. Break bread. And pray.
A bunch of ‘Christ-like-ones’ living life.
Don’t fret over the programming or ‘service’. Just be. Life finds a way.
Rediscovering life together may take imagination. COVID and eating don’t play well together. But I am positive there are bake-shops just around the corner who would jump at the chance to help. Get creative!
Isn’t this what it’s about?
Reimagining Church?!
Just a quick thought.
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