The Fabric of Our Community

Deacon Rob Lewis tells us about our new Ordinary Time banner project.

 

“Floating.” That’s the word we’ve been hearing lately.  People are saying, “I feel like I’m floating.” Adrift. Untethered. That describes many in our church right now. 

We need an anchor, a center of gravity to ground us. For All Souls this has always been our community at worship around the eucharist. 

The eucharist is the chief act of divine worship through which we are transfigured so as to become the body of Christ that we eat. This requires real and bodily presence, not the real absence of eating and drinking in front of a screen. 

It also requires a real story. The eucharist is centered around the gospel, the story of Jesus. 

Some of us remember Cotton’s branding jingle.  “It’s the touch, the feel of  cotton, the fabric of our lives.” We need the touch, the feel of Jesus. He’s the story of our lives. 

Jesus invites us to bring our story into his, so that we live our stories together. The Bible is not saying, “Here is a story,” but “Here is your story.” A story that saves us and changes us. This can only happen when His story, and your story become our story. Our life together. 

That’s what our Ordinary Time banner of rended fabrics is about. It’s the fabric of our lives together. The stories that we weave together with the strong stitching of the Jesus story. 

We need you, your rended fabric along with its story – your story – in our banner, the fabric of our community.