Each week over 200 members of Emmanuel Uniting Church gather together as the Body of Christ in one place to worship God. We do this at three different times, in three services that vary in style. As we gather we are reminded that we are part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church. This church is universal, it is world wide, it is all encompassing of God’s people past, present and future. It is the beauty of what God has done for us that he gathers all his people together before him, although we can’t see, touch, hear or be with each other physically. “For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many” (1 Corinthians 12:13, 14).
Being an open and inclusive community in worship is therefore an expression of the unity and wholeness of the Body of Christ. Each of our worship services are therefore available and open to all people, of all ages. In his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 11 Paul confronted the people of Corinth about the divisions that they maintained and sometimes exacerbated as they gathered together for worship.
Recently, I had a visit from someone who has irregularly worshipped with us over the last couple of years. He informed me that he and his family would not be returning because of some words that were spoken to his wife about the behaviour of their young child. This is not the first time that I have heard people make similar remarks, either to parents or about parents.
When we gather for worship in each of our three distinct services, we are offered a chance to demonstrate the counter cultural nature of the church. Whilst society has a growing tendency to reject others who are different from us, or whose behaviour rubs against us, in church, as an expression of the Body of Christ we are called to accept each other. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7).
The cry room is for the benefits of parents who wish to use it. It is not for the benefit of the rest of the congregation who wish parents to use it. In all of our services children of all ages are welcome to remain and be part of the larger gathering in the church auditorium. There is no place in this world where we can go that is without distractions. Noise, people, movement and our own thoughts distract us, no matter how much we want to concentrate.
We have the opportunity to thank God that we have babies, young children, teenagers and young families as part of our congregation. The life and ministry of Emmanuel is strong and will continue to be strong. A key question for our ongoing ministry is how we grow these young people in their faith.
We can also enlarge our capacity to envisage the kingdom of God and recognise all who are part of it, including ourselves. It is by grace that God has invited us into his kingdom and it is through the discipleship of others that we have been nurtured in our own faith practices. From your past who can you give thanks for, that you are now part of God’s kingdom?
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