One of the nice parts of this being a ¾ time position is that I’m not responsible for worship or showing up at church on the fourth Sunday of every month. Last weekend, a short trip was in the mix, and somewhere along the way, unbeknownst to me, I picked up a traveling companion who followed me home. On Tuesday of this week, in a not-so-subtle way, they popped up and introduced themselves. “Hello! I’m COVID! So nice to meet you.”

The day symptoms pop up is considered day 0, and the following day is day 1 of  5 days of isolation. So, I’ve been home sick this week and will miss Sunday. I’m extremely grateful to everyone who helped fill in some of the gaps I left over the last several days. We have such a great staff. Our new Council and Moderator are wonderful. So many of you have been so helpful in so many ways. Thank you.

This will mean a change in our plans for Sunday, however. The plan was to install new officers and receive new members, but the Council decided to postpone this for a week so that I could participate. Which is such a nice thing, and I would have missed it. It all could have been done without someone in my role, but they wanted to ensure I could be there.

This is one of the best things about churches our size. In bigger systems and churches, the question is how a person can shape themselves to fit a preset role, be it moderator, treasurer, committee member, pastor, etc. In churches our size, it’s more about how a person will help shape a role into something that the community needs through their personal gifts, skills, history, and wisdom. In larger systems, the person in a role has limited relevance. In smaller systems, the roles and the person and the community are all intertwined.

One of this week’s scripture readings, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, is Paul’s account of reaching out to strangers and, in those settings, becoming enough like them so that they could hear what it was he had to say. I also imagine what it was like those times he could come home among people who called him to this work because of who he was. This is one of the things being part of this community offers to you. This is one of those things we’ll have the opportunity to offer to those who join us: a “Welcome home.”