Christian community

On Saturday, 235 volunteers dressed in red provided a great experience in the Walnut Neighborhood at the Christmas Store and the Christmas Craft Fair.

For me personally, very little of the day was about the material goods on the tables but rather all about the experience. The experience was relational in so many ways. At the Christmas Craft Fair, I watched people sitting down together at tables making crafts and visiting with one another. I watched people work together to accomplish the task of that particular craft. There was a buzz of conversation and laughter when I walked through mid-way into the event. Yesterday I attended church at Orchard Hill and at Harvest, and I listened to people at both churches talk about all the new people they had met.

At the Christmas Store, greeters welcomed folks, the hospitality room was full of cider, cookies, smiles, and love. Personal shopping assistants came alongside those shopping to help hold coats and toys and to help guide them through the process smoothly. Even through the cashier line and gift wrap, I watched people smiling and visiting with one another. And, before the exit, I watched several shoppers stop to pray with folks available at a prayer area. There were tears and hugs on more than one occasion when I looked around the gym.

What a beautiful picture of Christian community. The people of God bound together on a particular mission, shining light and drawing others in to be a part of such goodness. I had a friend volunteer at the Christmas Store who has been away from church and fellowship over the past year or more. Even after she just came together for the volunteer orientation meeting, she said, "When I was at church tonight, I felt so alive." Oh, how good it is when the Holy Spirit works through the Christian community of faith-filled, joy-filled friends!

I used to think Christian Community Development meant Christians developing the community (as in location). I think it really means that God wants to develop Christian community (as in relationships). When those reconciling relationships and friendships begin to happen, all sorts of transformation can begin to happen in the physical location of community.