Pastoral Epistle

There’s an old joke that a woman hasn’t fully committed to attending an event until she’s decided what she’s going to wear to it.

Laugh if you want, but there’s a deeper message here: Showing up often involves a level of preplanning and dedication.

And that’s true on Sunday mornings as much as it is any other time of the week. So consider this: When it comes to attending church, is your assumption that you’ll be there every week, and everything else must work around that commitment? Or is your thought that you’ll go as long as you don’t have too much else to do? Readings in Treasures of the Transformed Life focus on presence, an important concept for any Christian.

To help explain why, let’s go over the Scripture verse, “Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others” (Rom. 12:5 NLT).

Notice the part that says, “each of us needs all the others.” It’s hoped that the next time you consider missing worship service, that phrase will stick in your mind. See, we need to be careful about the idea that we go to church just so we can get something out of it. Going to church also offers us an opportunity for us to give.

What kind of church would we be if every member—every single member—showed up on Sunday with the thought, Who can I bless today? or How can I serve?

No doubt, it would be a place where needs were met. It would be a place of joy, excitement, and selflessness. And it would be a place in which everyone felt that they fit. As journalist and author Jane Howard once said, “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

And it, apparently, needs you, too.

In Christ,

Rev. Victoria Wood Parrish