Dear Ones in Christ,
Remember the old commercials for
Thomas' English Muffins
? The whole "nooks and crannies" thing? The idea was that because English Muffins have divots in them, they are a better butter delivery system. Those weird little gaps could be filled with all sorts of goodness.
I've learned that Churches can be a bit like English Muffins. We are generally not smooth (like toast) and have more than a few bumps. Call it "character" or simply the result of being a collection of broken human folks who come together to remember Whose they are... Churches are flawed. Some in the world see this as a liability. I see our congregations using our woundedness and less-than-perfectness to have compassion for the least of these.
As we acknowledge our own flaws, we are able to see the gaps in our communities. We begin to see that there are nooks and crannies in the world just outside our door that we can fill. Some churches are filling the gap by providing a one day a week afterschool programs for children (see Church of the Covenant's
"Backyard"
program) or the Knox
Kid's program
. Other congregations grow food to share (I'm looking at you,
Silver Spring
,
Adelphi
and
St. Matthew
!). Still others work in areas of homelessness, affordable housing and ministry to those imprisoned.
In my conversations with church leadership I know that sometimes churches feel that in order to be present to others in the community, they need to be solvent/perfect/whole. It's not just that we don't feel we have enough to share (although,
we often do have two coats
). It's a fear that we need to get it absolutely right before we can do anything at all. And yet, it's not out of our perfection that we are able to meet others... it is our brokenness that gives us the opportunity to meet folks where they are.
Of course, we remember this every time we break bread.
We know this every time we look to the cross.
By His stripes, we are healed.
Where is your congregation filling in the nooks and crannies of your community? Where is there brokenness and pain? How is God using you?
Grateful for all that you do -
Karen
