October 2, 2020
Grace and peace to the saints in FPC Pottstown,
The first time I heard the Lord’s Prayer prayed in different languages by people worshipping in different settings, I got goosebumps. I was in high school, it was World Communion Sunday, and a door was opening in my mind -- or was it in my heart, or my soul? For the first time, I realized what it meant, what it sounded like, what it looked like, to say that I was connected to Christians in every part of the globe, that we were one body, a vast kinship of people joined by our faith in Jesus Christ, a bond that was greater and deeper than geography or nation or class or culture, and that I could travel anywhere on the planet and find people -- like these believers in the video in Haiti, Thailand, Costa Rica, Jerusalem, and Madagascar-- and they would welcome me as a sister, and despite all our differences, I could know them as friends.
This was the hope, I believe, of the church fathers and mothers who established World Communion Sunday 87 years ago in Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pa. At first, the idea of establishing one day in the year when every Christian church around the globe would celebrate the Lord’s Supper was merely an initiative of that year’s moderator of the General Assembly, Dr. Hugh Thompson Kerr. Dr. Kerr’s son recalls, “The concept spread very slowly at the start. People did not give it a whole lot of thought. It was during the Second World War that the spirit caught hold, because we were trying to hold the world together. World Wide Communion symbolized the effort to hold things together, in a spiritual sense. It emphasized that we are one in the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
What better time to continue this practice symbolizing the effort to hold the world together than in this notorious year 2020? Once again, this Sunday, the first Sunday in October, we will join with Christians from all around the globe, who from the rising of the sun to its setting, across 24 time zones, will come to the Table of the Lord and lift up the cup of salvation, doing this, remembering Him.
This year, we will not come to the Table in the sanctuary, dappled by the colors of the stained glass window; we will come to a folding table, outdoors, perhaps draped in a blanket as we come. But the Table will be made holy by that power that makes every Lord’s Table holy, and the Peace Garden will become a sanctuary as Christ is present in the body gathered there. And perhaps this year, we will be more mindful than we have ever been of our kinship with sisters and brothers around the world who on Sunday will be gathering around a table under a flatland tree or in a mountain grotto or a jungle pavilion, sharing the feast Christ has prepared for all people, a foretaste of that banquet to come when God’s kingdom is complete.
Do join us at the Lord’s Table. Bring a lawn chair and a mask, and perhaps a blanket -- and a friend! to the Peace Garden and Prayer Labyrinth on Sunday at 5:00. (and please register online so we can prepare for you) We won’t be speaking in many languages, but we will professing the faith we share with these believers in Zimbabwe, Colombia, Czech Republic, Surinam, Greece, and Madagascar, as they affirm their faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed. https://vimeo.com/454872780
How are we going to be Church this week?
Saturday 10.3
- Delivery of 21-Day Family Bible Story Read Aloud Challenge materials
Sunday 10.4
-
9:30 - Service of the Lord’s Day, in the sanctuary Please sign up online. https://forms.gle/Xcthj2oetMsRyXbx7
-
5:00 - World Communion Celebration of the Lord’s Supper in the Peace Garden and Prayer Labyrinth Bring a lawn chair, mask, and blanket! Please sign up online. https://forms.gle/jmbQtTonZSamzjxi8
-
5:00 - Senior Seekers Communion and Picnic Supper Let Jaylee or your advisors know you are coming on GroupMe
Monday 10.5
-
Deacons deliver the bread and cup to our kin behind ‘locked doors.’
- 21-Day Family Bible Story Read Aloud Challenge begins!
Tuesday 10.6
-
7:30 - Praying the Scriptures (Lectio Divina) via Zoom. If you would like the link, email Kerry.
Wednesday 10.7
-
4:00 - Music(less) Rec for grades 2-5 Outside, weather permitting, or in Fellowship Hall
-
7:15 - Evening Prayer and Committee meetings The Zoom link will be opened at 7:00 for fellowship before we head into ‘breakout rooms’ for committee meetings. Email Carter or Kerry for the Zoom link.
Thursday 10.8
-
9:30 - Sisters of the Way on the Prayer Labyrinth or in Fellowship Hall, depending on the weather
- 5:00 - Community Meals
-
7:30 - Stewardship Committee meeting check with Carter for link
Good to Know
Bruce Main, Executive Director of Urban Promise, will preach in worship on Sunday, October 11. Bruce is a longtime friend of the congregation, and Urban Promise is a longtime mission partner, educating and sharing Christ’s love with children, youth and families in Camden NJ and around the world. On October 11, we will lift in prayer our mission partners and those among us who work with them.
The church library will be open on Sunday mornings after worship, until 11:00, as well as Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 8:00 to noon and 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Young Children and Worship are back during worship beginning this week. Miss Becca and the Young Children and Worship team are back beginning October 4 during worship for our 4 year-olds through 2nd graders. Bring your masks and come hear our stories. We can’t wait to see you in our socially distanced space.
Mission Partner: the PCUSA Peace and Global Witness Offering which supports peacemaking ministries and mission partners around the world, including our Barth Peacemaker Award.
With hopeful hearts,
Kerry and Carter
