Dirty Church Words

The word ‘church’ is a dirty word these days among some folks. Catchy title, yeah? Maybe they’ve had a bad experience with church folks—which does happen. Perhaps they have listened to music or watched video materials that paint the church as something it isn’t—or maybe they have friends that trash the church. However all that might work, I saw the church here at Center Road doing fantastic things leading up to and during last Monday evening. There are some photos in the announcement slides. It was just really cool. Anyone would be proud to be a part of the body of Christ here.

It started without anything terribly spectacular… just a signup list on the bulletin board and a bin on the Café floor. This congregation brought more than enough food for a special cause. Then Saturday, I didn’t even count the youth and adults who came to prepare the food for the Monday evening meal.

On Monday people just showed up in mass. It was amazing. No worrying at all. We had folks setting up tables, string wires for roaster ovens, stirring up potatoes, warming up food, cooking beans, making drinks, decorating, and washing dishes. When our guests arrived, we had people greeting them and serving—helping people to their tables that needed it. Food was served, people were tenderly cared for—even though it was hot in the kitchen. I was asked where things went or where to find them a few times and that was it. You just jumped in and did it. Wow.

I can’t list everyone here because this is a project this congregation took to heart. I want to acknowledge Carrie Padgett who has helped us over the years since her daughter, Laurie helped us start doing this thing—we think 10 years ago. Carrie has continued to shop and take responsibility for a bunch of stuff.

Oh, and our guests. MHA stands for Howard County’s Mental Heath America. People don’t always go out of their way to help those who struggle with mental heath. $ is tight for this group. Yet, God blessed us with an opportunity lighten and brighten our day.

Our God is an Awesome God - Keep loving people one step closer to Jesus!