2nd John 1:12
Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
I love the way the author of 2nd John ends his letter. He’s writing a letter. He knows there are limits to how the church can communicate through the written word. He goes as far as say that the only real way his joy can be made complete is by seeing people face to face – eyeball to eyeball – heart to heart.
I feel the same way. Probably the most difficult aspect of Covid for me was being physically apart from you. I have learned to do many strange things across these two years of pandemic. I have learned how to wear a mask without fogging up my glasses (well, sort of.) I have learned how to convey God’s love to an empty room full of people (well, one camera man – but you get my drift.) I have learned how to write more than I speak through texts, and emails, and letters, and notes.
But the thing I miss the absolute most is seeing you face to face in conversation.
Now that things are beginning to open up a bit more, I wanted to begin “something new” to help give us time to be together face to face. Each Sunday afternoon/evening, my wife and I co facilitate our Disciple I Bible study. But I have a window of time from 2 pm to 3 pm on Sunday afternoons where I want to just be available to my church for face to face conversation.
We are calling this “Community Conversations.” It happens on the first Sunday of each month in Room 304 from 2 pm until 3 pm. I will usually begin with some relevant icebreaker topic for each month that will allow me to talk for about 10 minutes to get us going. But from that point on, I will be there to talk about whatever you wish to come talk about. I don’t claim to be the answer man – but I do desire to be a willing conversation partner as we try to get through this often complicated world together. Let’s be together so that our joy may be complete.
We will begin on March 6th at 2 pm in Room 304. My icebreaker for that day will be a brief update on the Boy Scouts of America national settlement case and an update on the UMC denomination’s (and our local Church’s) continued support and partnership with Scouting.
God’s Peace,
