For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
~ Romans 12:4-5 ESV
I am always amazed at the ministry that can happen together. Whether that be the ways we as a church work together, as a family of God together, or the collaboration with other churches or other denominations. Together we are proof that the Body of Christ is diverse and vibrant.
I am still in awe of the many ways our congregation gathered together to bring awareness to the important issue of hunger in children and youth to our community. From donating your time, your skills, to being in attendance, I am so thankful. This grant is not something our congregation is doing alone, but together with our fellow ELCA churches working to serve hungry children.
And now that the community awareness event is finished, I’ve been spending my time getting ready for Holy Week. Whatever differences we may have with our fellow Christians, I am always thankful that we can come together for worship, and Holy Week is filled with collaborative services.
We spent Maundy Thursday together at Stella Lutheran Chapel with our fellow Lutherans for a service of foot (or hand) washing and communion as we remember the Last Supper together.
Good Friday has had lots of opportunities to join in with the many members of the Body of Christ! Mid-Day the Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association will be hosting an ecumenical worship service, with more than a dozen different faith leaders from our community participating. And then we come together at Bethany that evening with Gloria Dei and Trinity Lutheran churches for our own collaborative worship service as we remember Jesus’s death on the cross.
Lent is often a busy time for pastors and for members of churches, we often have a lot going on between service projects, worship services, community events, and all the other parts of our life. But as we begin this new season together, as we look towards the new life that Jesus brings us on Easter, I am just so thankful for all the ways we function as the Body of Christ together, for each of you as individual members, and for all the ways God is working in our church, in our community, and in the whole Body of Christ.