As I’ve spent this month with you, I’ve reflected a bit on the way the lives of churches have changed in these past two and a half years. There are so many of you I’ve missed seeing! My guess is that among you there are many who have not yet felt safe returning to corporate worship, and others who’ve found it convenient simply to stay home and view the service online. Yet, I want you to know that you are missed, and not just by me.

Neighborhood Church has an opportunity now to embody its name in new ways. While many are still concerned about indoor spaces, more are open to outdoor occasions, and no church has a better campus for a variety of outdoor settings than you! The first Summer Sunday Sounds this past Sunday was a huge event, filled with conviviality and congeniality.

If any institutions in our society can play a role in restoring community, rebuilding relationships, and reweaving the social fabric of our cities and towns, it is churches like yours and mine: churches that are genuinely welcoming, open to doing things in new ways for a new day, and see outreach to their surrounding communities as natural ways to express care.

I want to encourage you to think outside the box. What occasions might you create that will draw people back into community? How might you offer times for the more vulnerable and cautious among you to return under safe conditions? How might you personally reach out to someone who hasn’t ventured back yet, just to let them know you miss them? What does this beautiful peninsula and its surrounding cities need now? Cultural events, spiritually focused occasions, times for support and learning, intergenerational gatherings – all can help rebuild our social world.

I say all this not simply because being in community is warm and nice, but because strong social relationships are crucial to democracy and our general wellbeing as a nation. Scripture teaches this at every turn. We would do well to take some risks, experiment a bit, and see how we can make a difference in this messy, hurting, fearful world of ours.

Davida

Friends, a word of appreciation for Neighborhood Church, for each of you and for your staff. You are a church with a great generosity of spirit. Your welcome of this “outsider preacher” is remarkable in itself, and that is only enhanced by all the wonderful lunches and dinners and conversations with so many of you. Your willingness to share so much of your lives with me has made me an “insider preacher” and there is no greater compliment than that. I want you to know that I also cherish my time with your staff, whom I’ve experienced over these years as one of the best staff teams of all those I’ve worked with. They care deeply about each other and Neighborhood Church, give their best, and work well together. And from what I’ve seen, the same is true of your leaders. If I do return next year (depending on your needs and desires and my health), I will do so with bells on! God’s blessing on each and all of you!