About how somebody Invited me to Another Church and why I liked the Experience
I want to tell you what happened this Saturday. I live in a townhouse complex. It took a while for us to settle in but we now love where we live. We even got to know a few neighbours. Lock-down down made for more interactions than would normally be the case. Afternoons we would sit on our back porch and have some impromptu conversations with neighbours walking by or relaxing on our communal lawn.
When one of my neighbours walked across the lawn with a bottle of wine, I was curious and asked her where she is heading. “Oh, I am going to church”, she replied. I know that she is a Christian and is involved at a church, so I assumed she was joking…which she was but hang on. She asked me if I wanted to join her for church at which I laughed. I know she knows that I am a pastor and thought she made a joke. “I am serious”, she said. “Go, get yourself a glass of wine and come!”.
I accepted the challenge and down I went with a glass of freshly poured wine in my hand. She led me around the corner of the townhouse complex, and we were met by a circle of women that all sat in chairs spaced 6 feet apart in a circular fashion. No surprises, the “church” she referred to was actually a group of neighbourhood friends. I was introduced and had interesting conversations about shared interests like schools and Covid woes. But then I noticed that more than one other woman in the group also referred to this gathering as “church”. Interesting as at least half of these women told me they attend a church somewhere in Surrey. Because the fellowship reminds them about their churches, they call these gatherings “church”.
And so it got me thinking. Their gathering doesn’t involve worship and prayer as one is used to in a church setting. But they are a group of local, like stay-in-the-same-townhouse-complex-local, seeking out and enjoying each other’s company. It is welcoming to newcomers like me, accepting of diversity and a source of encouragement, support and even knowledge during a difficult time. They all intend to keep on doing this after Covid time. One even joked and asked me if I would be willing to do a service in the communal courters one day and even though I am sure she was joking, I made sure to tell her I would be glad to. Upon hearing that my church is in Whalley, they told me about a couple who has been serving with their local church for years in Whalley. I want to meet them!
Reflecting on this pleasant surprise encounter, I realize that I might have seen something prophetic come into being among these women. Sociologists predict that one of the consequences of Covid is going to be a reappreciation for and a refocus on the local. Its like it is slowly but surely dawning on people that when tragedy struck as it is destined to strike in our broken world, you want to have neighbours nearby to lean on. People realize that all the celebrities we worship and follow on social media together with our Facebook “friends” from around the globe, does not really know or care for us. People are reminded of a thing humankind knew well until very recently-the fact that we might manage physical distancing but our souls wither if we social distance ourselves…and that has been exactly what we have done with our ever growing networks of contacts. By this we have become alienated from the people we need most-our neighbours.
The “church” I saw in action and was invited into on a idle Saturday afternoon, gives me hope and excites me about what is going to happen post-Covid. Or am I reading to much into it?
Gabriel J Snyman
May 11th 2020