The little guy, the youngest brother—like Joseph. A small group of 12 men with very little social power—like the disciples. Small gatherings of Christians like Paul wrote to—as in the first century of the movement that Jesus created that we now call Christianity. And Bishop Willimon also pointed out that large churches tend to simply be gatherings of multiple small churches that use the same building.

Small churches seem to be the basic unit of God’s plan. So if that’s how God prefers to work, then who are we to question it? We simply live into God’s vision of the church wherever we are. This fits with a recent statement by another United Methodist bishop, our own Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi: we in Western Pennsylvania are one United Methodist Church with 400 different points of entry. Each United Methodist Church in Pennsylvania is one point of entry for God’s work in the community. The church belongs to God, and it’s far, far bigger than any single congregation.

There are so many advantages to a small church. First among them is that we know each other, and can become familiar with each other’s lives, supporting and celebrating as appropriate. We are not a community of strangers—we can actually function as a body, the body of Christ.

Let us live into the times in which we find ourselves, living faithfully and thoughtfully, caring for each other and for the world, as a body called together by Jesus Christ.

I’ll see you in church—

Becky

Prayer

In the dry wildernesses of our lives,

in the days of heat and thirst,

you offer us living water,

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

When we begin to doubt your presence,
and grumble that your love is unreliable,
you offer us living water,
Thank you, gracious and generous God.

When life’s regrets and the bad choices we have made
leave us feeling excluded and unworthy,
you offer us living water,
Thank you, gracious and generous God.

When circumstances, or the inhumanity of others,
have left us alone and wounded,
you offer us living water,
Thank you, gracious and generous God.

We thank you and praise you, O God,
that how ever we may thirst,
what ever we may need to satisfy our souls,
you offer it freely and abundantly in Christ;
So we drink deep of the living water
and, as we draw from your wells,
we seek to pass the cup to others,
who, like us, are thirsty for your grace. Amen.1