We had a surprise email from some German ecumenical rural church leaders, who were coming to a fresh expressions conference at CMS, asking if they could visit. We gathered in Florence Park for worship and a picnic, so they could find out more about our life together. We always feel complete frauds when people want to know about how we ‘do’ church!! We kind of make it up as we go along, learning from experience what seems to work and what doesn’t, gratefully receiving whatever anyone is able to offer into our life. As always it was very enriching to be joined by others, and to hear ourselves tell our story. Always reassuring when a few of us highlight the same things!!
We spent time entering into the feeding of the 5,000, considering who are the ‘crowds’ in our lives, and what small gifts (fish) and efforts (bread) we have to offer that Christ might be able to multiple to more than enough.
The challenge of believing in abundance in a world dominated by ‘scarcity’ and the need to hoard/protect rather than give.
Our visitors kindly left gifts to bless our worship, and an abundance of chocolate which we will share next time we gather!
