Friends,Food, and Fellowship

About a week ago I got the opportunity to pet sit for one of the married couples. There is separate apartment housing for the married couples that is a comfortable distance from the main seminary campus. The advantage of pet sitting was the chance to be in a living space larger then a single bedroom. They even had a real full size couch just waiting to be lounged on. The best part though was the access to a real kitchen and ultimately real food! ( To be fair the dorm food here is not that bad, but as a vegetarian there is only so much pasta and cheese one can eat.)

So for a whole weekend I had the run of an apartment which of course meant inviting friends over to cook. My hall mates Chelsea and Elizabeth ( and a few other people) came over multiple nights and we cooked, ate, talked. It was a wonderful time of fellowship which of course got me thinking.

The other day in my systematics class we were talking about the 'mission' of the Church, and what makes Church the Church. We read a variety of theologians some that defined the Church by structure of the institution, others by the service it performed. Some where caught up with 'place' the church as a place in a specific local, others took place out of the question completely.

Last year while participating in the U of O campus ministry I was able to participate in many conversations along this same line, regarding what defines the Church. One thing that came up was looking for the Church not only on Sunday mornings in a sanctuary but also other times and places.

This time of year food takes a central place in our lives and schedules. Most people find their calendars packed with food related events that they are going to attend. We gather, we eat, and talk, just as my friends and I did.

In the evenings that I spent preparing and sharing food with friends I encountered a piece of church. I shared moments of the everyday, moments of genuine fellowship with friends. We broke bread together, thanking and raising up such gifts to God. Now I am not saying that we should all skip church and just have a meal together, but let us not forget that church does not only happen on Sunday mornings, or in pews.

A Church relevant to the day, happens in the day.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Amanda