Do you or your church give bread to new visitors?
On Sunday morning I was driving home to the suburbs of Chicago. I was in Iowa for the weekend for the Tex Sample – “Come Sample Simply Stories” event at First Christian Church in Ames. Planning where I would be on Sunday morning was no easy task. First: we have a lot of Disciples congregations along the I-80 corridor! Second: I needed to time my departure from my parents’ house and my arrival home in Illinois so that I wasn’t leaving too early or too late to get to worship.
This month’s congregation along the way: First Christian Church, Coralville, IA. Their 10:00am worship service and their location was just right. What was even more right, however, was the celebration of ministry taking place during worship.
Bette Klein was one of two ministers licensed that morning. (Dennis Arnold was the other; more on him below …) Don Hiscox, Regional Minister for Congregational and Clergy Care led a short, informal certificate presentation. He highlighted how Bette finished the LMEP program in rapid time; no one at FCC Coralville seemed surprised by this. Bette will continue serving FCC Coralville as their Youth Minister.
Revs. Don Hiscox, Bette Klein, John McKinstry
But as great of a celebration as Bette’s certification is – I want to celebrate the ministry of hospitality that FCC Coralville shows to their visitors. Dennis Arnold, a member at FCC Coralville, is part of their bread-baking team that regularly make loaves of bread for newcomers. He also went through the LMEP program to do licensed ministry in the Upper Midwest. Sunday morning at their 9am service, Don Hiscox went through the same ritual with Dennis at the congregation in Solon, IA (about 10 miles north of Coralville/Iowa City).
Even though I missed Dennis on Sunday morning, I can still witness to his incredible hospitality because of the bread he made. Dennis, Bette, and all of the ministers (= all those baptized!) at First Christian Church in Coralville, IA are companions with those who stop in along the way. True to the most literal meaning of “companion” — bread fellows – they extend hospitality to those they knew were coming and those who stopped in unannounced.
Thank you all for a great Sunday morning worship experience.
(PS – The bread was part of an amazing sandwich for lunch today. I don’t let such good food go to waste …)