Last Sunday we had the pleasure of having three people (Graham, Bonnie and Phil) sharing their perspective on what church is to them. There were a number of analogies given such as ‘family’ or ‘parts of a body’ but I have to say my favourite was a ‘stew’. Bonnie was suggesting that through a very odd mix of ingredients that needed very different preparation, something messy but heart-warming was produced. All the analogies linked with the sense that all of us at Christies are a bunch of all sorts – we have come from different backgrounds, are different in thought and interests but together we can form something that potentially adds immense value to the community we serve.
Many of us in the leadership team sense that God is doing something new here at Christies. At the moment we are seeking to find out what that new thing is – we have a few thoughts but in truth we probably have more questions than answers. However what we can see is that already God seems to be adding some new ingredients into our midst, New faces and people with different backgrounds and gifts.
Hopefully over the Christmas break we can all take the opportunity to get to know some of the new people (and possibly some others we haven’t connected with for a while), and allow some of our different flavours to start mixing. It’s amazing as we take time to connect, to listen to each other’s stories how we find a kind of commonality that shapes the corporate family we are becoming. It’s impossible for this to happen if our only connection is for a few minutes on a Sunday and only with people ‘like us’. So as we go into a new season, especially looking at what ‘table’ is going to mean to us – take the opportunity to expand your own table and fellowship with someone new – may be even with someone you might normally avoid – You never know you might even find you like them!!