I arrived early to get settled before other folks started arriving. Pastor Jerry and I met in the office and discussed some details about the order of worship. A few minutes later, I slowly made my way to the sanctuary space at Church of the Reconciler, unsure of what my experience would be on my first Sunday. As I began to greet folks and introduce myself, I started to sense something of the uniqueness of this church community.
When the worship service began, I looked around the sanctuary and was struck by the worshipping community I saw. There were people gathered together from all walks of life - people experiencing homelessness, people facing economic hardship, middle-class, and upper middle-class folks too. And yet, all were gathered together as one for worship and fellowship.
The worship service I witnessed my first Sunday at Church of the Reconciler and continue to witness each Sunday mirrors the gatherings of the earliest Christian communities.
In the New Testament, especially in the letters of the Apostle Paul, we catch glimpses, here and there, of worship gatherings. Taken together, we see God gathering people together from all walks of life. This was no small feat in the ancient world of the New Testament where there was a stark divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Those with a wealth of resources made up the top 10-20% of the population while everyone else, 80-90% of the population, lived day to day praying, quite literally, for their “daily bread.” This makes it all the more surprising that among the earliest Jesus followers God was creating a worshipping community that transcended the economic divisions of the day.
At Church of the Reconciler, as we lift up our voices in song, listen to the Word of God preached, pray with and for one another, come to the table for holy communion, and share in a fellowship meal, we transcend the economic barriers of our day and embody Paul’s teaching in Galatians 3:28 that, “all are one in Christ Jesus.” Our worship service makes concrete the claim that we are bound to one another, not by the balance (or negative balance) in our bank account, but by the God who restores us to loving relationships with ourselves, one another, and God.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve holy communion at the end of our worship service every Sunday. As we prepare to come to the table, the congregation prays, “Lord, I need you. Lord, I thank you. Lord, I love you.” The minister presiding over communion prays, “Pour out your Spirit upon these gifts of bread and wine, make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.” After praying the Lord’s Prayer with one voice, everyone is invited to come to the Lord’s table and encounter the Risen Christ.
As the congregation makes their way forward and I serve communion, I am struck once again by what I get to see.
I see God gathering people together from all walks of life. I see people experiencing more than homelessness or the hardship of economic poverty or the malaise of the middle-class. I see them experience the grace of God through the sacrament of holy communion. I see God creating a community of people called to new life in Christ. I see our worship service bear witness to the in-breaking of the kingdom of God.
But don’t take my word for it, come and see for yourself. Join us for worship on Sundays at 9:30!
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*Photo by Will McLelland, Visiting Alabama’s Church of the Reconciler, a safe place for food, rest and prayer