A few years ago I was able to go on a retreat led by one of my favorite theologians, Rob Bell. If you aren’t familiar with him go watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loFBGdeXGtg (my favorites are Dust and Lump if you want to pay to watch more). Rob started a church in 1999 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It grew to be one of those megachurches with about 10,000 people in attendance on a Sunday. So as someone who had dreams of starting a new church my ears perked up when during one of the sessions Rob began talking about what he would do if he were going to start another new community. One piece of his advice has been rattling around in my head ever since we began the Sellwood Faith Community. He said. “Do Eucharist a lot…… The medium is the message. We are not ultimately about words.”
Well, up until the last month or so hadn’t really focused on communion, in fact it took us 6 months to include communion at our dinners. And then it was only once because it was a member’s birthday and she specifically asked that we do communion with dinner. Given the fact the first communion happened at a dinner I maybe should have been spurred to action earlier, but as I am continually learning things have a season. I just have to be open to the unfolding of the seasons and it becomes clear what needs to happen next. So a couple of months ago we were wrapping up early. We had enjoyed a great discussion and a wonderful meal. It was clearly time to clean up, but it felt like something was missing. The answer announced itself as a little whisper, “Hey, this would be the perfect time to do communion.” Having no elements on hand I let it go that time, but from then on we’ve done communion every week. I love closing this way, and although we haven’t totally got our routine down yet of how celebrating the sacrament works best for us, there is rich meaning in finding our way together.
And as I reflect on that reality I am struck by how apt Rob Bell’s words were for SFC. Really for us the medium is the message. We are about God with us, we are about being present love in our neighborhoods. What better way to end each dinner than remembering Jesus, the word made flesh, here with us?
Sometimes ideas take a while to find expression, that is one of the most delightful part of this experiment in church, finding the way all the pieces fit together to reflect the beauty of God here in this place at the present time.
-Eilidh
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| From photosforthe.church |
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