Where church and community meet

I had the most amazing opportunity to be in a room and engage in conversation with some amazing people last Wednesday night. Nina and I had organized a meet and greet between Kids Hope mentors and the parents of the children we were mentoring in the staff room at the Hawthorndene Primary School. All but one of our mentors made it to the gathering and more than half of the children were represented by their parents.
As Tania (school principal) and I shared with the parents and mentors the details of the Kids Hope program and our vision for it, I felt a real sense that we were united as one with a single purpose and vision and that was to invest in the lives of children in our community and help them become the best they can be. As we broke into more informal conversation I took a moment to step back and take a snap shot of the room in my mind. In every conversation I saw a member of my church deeply engrossed in conversation with a stranger in the community. There was laughter and deep and meaningfuls. I saw one mentor having a laugh with the school principal who had previously been suspicious of these church folk and another mentor in a joyful conversation with the child she was mentoring and the child’s mum.
Our local newspaper ‘The Messenger’ has been highlighting the persona and presence of the church in stories over this last couple of weeks. A couple of weeks ago it published some glum but true figures of percentage drops in church attendance then went on to ask questions of relevance, ‘is the church old school?’, ‘is it dying?’, and the like. In this weeks Messenger I notice they are playing to the tune of the larger churches in our community saying how successful they are. While attendance in churches are up you could say that what attracts the crowds to the churches is nothing short of Christian consumerism.
We can run sexy church services all we like but what difference is that really making in the community around them? I love Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica because in the letters introduction Paul states some amazing things about the nature of this faith community. Not only had they become an example to the other believers but their faith in God had become known everywhere. People were turning from the idols of the old life and toward the living God. My guess is they weren’t running sexy worship services in the synagogues but were doing life with their community is such a way that inspired love, faith and hope and people were being transformed by their daily interactions with followers of ‘the Way’ who were simply imitating Christ in their community.
On that Wednesday night I was so proud to be part of a church that isn’t defined only by what we do on Sunday. It was a real celebration for me to hear a parent suggest that we should meet like this more often and the principal to applaud it. After an hour and a half I was the first to leave and everyone else looked as if they were settled for the night.
There are so many places where churches are and ought to be meeting and getting to know the community around them and it isn’t always on the ‘churches turf’. Even in our local primary school the Spirit of God goes before us and prepares a place where mentors, children, families and staff and transformed by hope.

Shalom
Mark Riessen