Last Sunday as we gathered for worship at First Baptist Church – Columbus I noted at least nine persons in our midst who’d not been able to attend in some time. These individuals, couples and households, each have overcome something (either that very day, or over the past days, weeks or months) that kept them from worship with our faith community. It may have been bereavement (the difficulty of going to worship for the first time as a widowed person), or an ongoing illness or health struggle (that makes mornings especially difficult), or a “come back” from a life threatening scenario. For the purpose of this post the specifics of what these persons are dealing with is secondary to the fact that they were able to come – seeking to be in community with fellow Christ followers for worship on a Sunday morning. I know that my spirit was lifted just seeing their individual and collective faces amidst the congregation.
Community matters – it makes a difference – it is important. But community is a largely undervalued aspect of the Christ-following experience in middle class America. Continue reading
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