Dear Covenant Friends,
Last Sunday was the official start of the program year here at Covenant. The choir processed with joy and sang with gusto. The organs were magnificent. Backpacks were blessed and prayers for the world were offered. The theme of worship was praising God and seeking peace. And we were delighted to have guests from campus and community.
Afterwards we gathered for a Ministry Fair, with information on all the ways a person can share their gifts and become more engaged in mission and ministry at Covenant. The Deacons provided a wonderful lunch and many people contributed side dishes and dessert. Members and friends from Kanisa La Agano la Kiswahili (Church of the Covenant in Swahili) delayed their service in order to join us in the feast. For a time at least, we were a blended congregation in fellowship.
The photo above, with Dr. Jonathan Moyer and Karen Ault hosting a table of Congolese children, is representative of the bonds we share in Christ. In the background you can see the deacons doing what deacons do best- serving with love. One person told me she has discovered that once food crosses the threshold of the church, it becomes part of the “feeding of the 5000”, an extension of the biblical story when Jesus multiplied loaves and fishes so that there was enough…more than enough. That attitude of faith and abundance empowers us for ministry in Christ’s name, including welcoming the stranger, the immigrants, and all those who are longing for a word of hope.
Recently our country’s political discourse has been replete with false rumors about immigrants and even when those rumors are debunked, they are repeated until people start to believe them. Underneath these falsehoods is fear, and an attitude of scarcity rather than abundance. I’m grateful to be part of a congregation that takes the biblical call to welcome the stranger seriously. Our congregational life is enriched by the children, youth and adults who immigrated from The Democratic Republic of Congo and have found their spiritual home among us.
|