“And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” ~Matthew 25:40
Toward the end of January, our
outgoing Clerk of Session and our incoming Clerk of Session and I all sat down to cobble together the
2022 year-end statistics.
In the interest of full disclosure this kind of thing has always made my eyes roll back in my head; back to my sales career and even before that to my news-radio career.
And
some of the information we were asked to provide went beyond mind-numbing in
its seemingly trivial details (my opinion).
While I'll admit that there is more than likely a very good reason for these details...
...as we worked our way
through the reporting guidelines…
…nowhere were we asked about the
hours and effort that goes into providing meals to the local food pantry…
…or the food boxes we’ve
helped distribute…
...or serving lunch at the Senior Center...
…nor the hours our congregants
give to the local homeless shelters or a local relief nursery or CASA (Court
Appointed Special Advocates)…
…or free libraries or English reading
programs, or buying and hauling water to Warm Springs reservation to help with their water crisis.
And I suspect there is a lot
more energy, and many more hours, spent helping agencies and groups that I’m
missing.
Plus, there are other ministry activities we support both as a church and as individuals that takes less direct investment on our part, yet are every bit as needed; like making our parking lot available to those without stable shelter to spend the night in relative safety...
...offering a free shower so people can feel better about themselves and not stress about coming with $5 for a gym shower...
...opening our building
and garden to others who share our desire to make our community even healthier.
It all led me to consider that we ought to again take an inventory of the many ways we carry the heart of Jesus in the community around us.
We'll post these on our bulletin board, and YOU might like to take your own quiet inventory.
And please know -- this does come with a caution:
while we want to be careful that we don’t brag about this, there is value in simply
acknowledging it…
…for as we acknowledge it we
can grow aware of even more ways we can minister in Jesus’ name.
Together We Serve,