26 Dec 2020

Community

A screenshot of the CBC online article

             I had the great pleasure this week of speaking with a journalist from the CBC - she was doing a story on how churches were planning Christmas during COVID... word had gotten to her about our delivery of pre-consecrated communion for Christmas, and they were interested in learning more.
            I described how this was not normal, but building on the tradition of home communions (taking the sacrament beyond the building to the people of the church), we were celebrating being spiritually together while physically apart.
            The inevitable question came up: Isn't communion about community?
           Yes. It is! Community with God and with each other. However - community is not always defined as the person seated next to you on any given day. 
            Community is about knowing people, and being known - so we can react and respond when there are changes and occasions within community. It's reaching out to a friend who's going through a tough time... it's dropping off soup to a neighbour with sick kids... it's supporting local groups who work with food re-distribution and social supports... it's praying for the people in the homes you walk past on a stroll... it's journeying alongside someone standing up for what is right... and yes, it's coming together in the church to share in the body and blood of Christ.
            So for those of us here at St. John's, we don't have to come to the building to achieve community - we *live* community. We connect with one another, we reach out to those who may need help, we do what we can to make our part of the world a better place. 
            We don't always get it right, but we do try: because we care, and because we can. 
            And in doing that, we are doing our best to live the Gospel - 365 days a year, including Christmas. 
            Christmas this year was about new ways of celebrating our traditions. So although much was different, much was also the same: including Christmas communion. While the church made a headline one day for delivering communion, we live the joy every day of delivering community. 



1 comment:

  1. I think you gave that journalist a good explanation of community. When we had communion (at the 10:30 Christmas service), it was very special and heartfelt. I felt it was community in spirt and felt blessed. JK

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