Weekly News | 1.16.26
Dear Church of the Cross,
I began reading a book this week, expecting to learn about creation care, but instead, I was surprised by a refreshing and serendipitous introduction that sent me in a different direction. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter.
God has always combined people and place. It has never been otherwise and cannot possibly be otherwise. In Genesis 1 and 2, God creates mankind, male and female, and places them in a garden. God put the man and woman there to work it, or to cultivate it, that is to serve it and take care of it. The word translated serve in the Genesis passage is also used in Exodus 3:12 to describe the Levitical service to God in the tabernacle. The term for take care shows up again in Genesis 30:31, describing the way one shepherds the flocks, and in 28:15, protecting people who need it.
The focus of the opening pages of You Are There: Restoring Churches, People, and Places, by Robert Campbell, invites us to re-learn our “placed-ness,” embracing God’s benevolence and playfulness in creating us in place. Campbell continues, describing God’s hyper-local strategy of His misfit children, transformed by Christ’s lordship and organized by His Spirit into a community of reconciliation.
This got me thinking about you, COTC; the people of His church in Austin, in this time and place. I love that you all practice offering yourselves in service to one another, inhabiting the Gospel life. The cluster of words in Genesis referenced above - cultivate, serve, take care of - are rich, pastoral, and agricultural images of what I see in ya’ll! This kind of service is not merely a cause, project, or initiative. It’s not a one-time altruistic event, but an active, ongoing, gritty, embodied love of people and their places. This weekend, we will take a moment in our worship service to celebrate the gifts of time, energy, and talents you all make in our gathered worship each week. We’ll also invite you into opportunities to serve.
Our colloquial language falls mortally short in describing our communal, weekly practice of service: “volunteer”. Woof! It makes me squirm, conjuring ideas of corporate roadside workdays with matching t-shirts. While we will continue to use this word for its utility, I hope you hear and read it differently; our insufficient language being redeemed with greater imagery. You are not a cog in a church operation. You are a cultivator of your place and culture; you are a servant of Christ and his body; you are a protector of the vulnerable, a shepherd, a minister; you are a reconciler.
If you’d like to learn more about opportunities to serve, check out the announcement below or just send me a note! I’d love to hear from you.
The peace of Christ,
Bryson