No “Church” today?

“Here is the church, and here is the steeple.  Open the door and see all the people.”  So the saying goes.  But on a recent Sunday morning a church in Phoenix, Arizona, was a notable exception.  The parking lot was full of cars, but the pews were empty.  The church sign said: AM worship cancelled; it’s time to “be the church.” 

Scores of the church members in ten to twelve teams scattered throughout the immediate community with rakes, shovels, garbage bags, weed whackers and lawn mowers to fulfill the message on their common identifying T-shirts: “The Church that loves their neighbors.”  They trimmed palm trees, cut grass, pulled weeds, raked yards, picked up trash, washed cars and even did some dry wall repair at one home;  all completely gratis, to the astonishment of those served by the church’s teams.

Almost every church you drive by these days says, “Welcome.”  But how does a church do more than just “say” it?  How can a church actually follow through on what Mother Theresa once said, “Let them see what we do?”

A church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has found the answer, at least for them.  Once a month the church provides a free meal for the community.  It’s called simply the “New Day Meals” program.  It was inspired by Isaiah 58:7a “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen…Is it not to share your food with the hungry?”  Members of the congregation build relationships with people who come regularly.  Spiritual talk comes naturally and opportunities to pray with and for them abound.  “They feel our love and respect and they are responding with openness to God,” says Lyle Zumdahl, the pastor of Bethany Reformed Church.