The Fellowship of Believers

 

I serve as the chairperson of Fellowship at my church. I came to this position to fill a void...not because I have a particular talent for this sort of thing. And honestly, my Pastor asked me if I would do it and he is such a sweet man that I could not say no. LOL! I am not a party planner, and I have zero experience in food service. But I do love coffee, and I love my church family. And those two things were enough.

Vocation. Sometimes people think of vocation as something they are passionate about, like a holy calling or a destiny. It really isn't that at all. Vocation is where God puts you at a time or season in your life to fill a need for your neighbor. Vocation could be daughter, sister, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother. It could be garden produce sharer, meals on wheels deliverer, card sender. It isn't glamorous, but it is how we love our neighbor and demonstrate Christ's love for us.

The COVID-19 pandemic really made fellowship hard, not only for my church but for many churches. No coffee hours, no potluck dinners, no hugs. I had to get pretty creative last year just to keep the ministry going.

Thankfully, the pandemic seems to be easing and the state mandates are being lifted. We can gather together again, indoors and outdoors, with masks or without masks. Our congregation members seem so happy to socialize again!

We have had some big events recently! We installed a new senior pastor and we celebrated the retirement of our former senior pastor. 

Cookie receptions and ice cream socials. And both of them were joyous occasions.

Many churches around the country chose not to meet in person last year. Thankfully, our church was not one of them. We closed our doors for a very brief time in the spring of 2020, but opened again as soon as possible. We followed guidelines, we wore masks, we washed our hands, but we kept inviting everyone back to worship.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us:

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Hebrews 10:23-25

I was determined to bring coffee fellowship hour back this summer. With my family's help, we are making it happen every Sunday! We wheel out the drinks and snacks, we wipe down the picnic tables, and we enjoy fellowship outdoors in the cool and shady pavilion. 

I spoke with someone recently who came to our church because their church was closed last year. They knew the importance of physically being with the body of believers in worship. 

I fear that many people have fallen out of the holy habit of Sunday worship. It may have been easier to watch church in their pajamas. And maybe later, they forgot to watch church all together. But for us and for my family, we continue...not because we have to, but because we need to. We need to hear the Word rightly preached. We need the forgiveness of sins. We need the bread and wine, and yes, the coffee and donuts, too.

The Fellowship of Believers! It might be a lot of work to make it happen, but it is so worth it.