Beloved in Christ,
One of the hardest things about lockdown is missing connection. I don’t know about you, but when I start to feel a bit grumpy or discombobulated, it’s usually because I’m feeling disconnected from others. Just the other week, I had the great blessing of getting to spend time after church with one of our families in their backyard. I drove home rejoicing!
After all, we are made for community. God created us to live with others—whether we are single or in families, it doesn’t matter, we all need meaningful relationships in our lives. Research even shows that these kinds of interactions help release feel-good hormones.
That’s one of the great lessons from the Acts of the Apostles—readings that we are hearing on Sundays in the Easter season. Luke wrote this account of the early church following right after the Gospels—the good news of the life of Jesus.
I love this verse:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)
During lockdown, these hallmarks of the Church are still true. We are still committed to proclaiming the Gospel, and sharing in fellowship and the prayers. How grateful we will be to break bread together again too!
Fellowship is one of the uniquely special aspects of our life together. It’s something that only the Church—the body of Christ, really provides and you can’t find it anywhere else. As I like to say—parish life is unbeatable!
A lot of the time this kind of Acts-style fellowship happens in small groups—something that the early Church was so good at.
We are going to follow their example, and meet in a small group format for the “Spirit of Invitation” starting on May 18 at 7pm. This will be a chance for us to grow as disciples, share our lives together and have some joy and laughter as we get through this lockdown together. Register here or call Edward in the office to sign up.
Also, I want to encourage all of you to join us for worship this Sunday at 9am on ZOOM as we welcome our beloved Bishop Kevin who will be joining us. He is a very gifted preacher, so I am already excited! I look forward to seeing you all there.
With gratitude for you all,
Molly+
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