By the Rt. Rev. Kristin Uffelman White
April 17-18 marked our first Small Church Summit, a gathering I’ve long hoped for. The Rev. Derrick Fetz, our missioner for congregational vitality, and many other staff and leaders worked to create a really special opportunity for leaders of small congregations to come together and build community with one another, to pray and share in fellowship, and to be more fully equipped to lead the churches they love. Bishop Craig Loya of the Diocese of Minnesota served as our keynote speaker, and he shared the idea of “the blessing of small.”
The next day, Canon Meredith Day Hearn and I visited St. John’s Church, Cambridge, as part of my regular Sunday visitations, where we were blessed to see that blessing incarnate.
From the chance meeting with a parishioner at Starbucks before church, to junior warden Angela and her husband Joe waiting for us as we arrived, to senior warden Heidi greeting us and sharing the building tour that she offers to bus tours of town, to Martin, who re-stenciled the gorgeous ceiling in 1990…the blessing of small church life abounded.
Joe served as our acolyte for the liturgy. I preached and shared about the Summit, and about the disciples’ hearts burning within them as they traveled with Jesus without knowing who he was on the road to Emmaus.
At the Peace, as I was greeting people in their pews, a parishioner shared with me that something was wrong with his wife. It became clear that she was having a medical emergency. After a short time of confusion, we called 911 and the most caring EMTs arrived in the ambulance within a few minutes. One of them so, so tenderly picked the parishioner up and carried her to the stretcher that they had brought inside the door. A parishioner helped her husband into the cab of the ambulance; after he closed the ambulance door, he stepped back and made the sign of the cross. Another parishioner left her two young boys in the church’s care and she followed the ambulance to the hospital, as did the Rev. Rob Morris, who was present with us and regularly serves there as supply priest.
The rest of us gathered in a circle back in the church, where we held hands and prayed for the well-being of the parishioner who was going to the hospital and for everyone who was taking care of her. When we were done, I asked if we could continue with Eucharist, and they all agreed that we should. I asked if people would like to come forward so we were all a little closer together, and they did. The children stood with me at the altar, and the rest of the parishioners were seated in the chancel or at the bottom step. The boys’ mother made it back from the hospital in time to receive communion, and we were all relieved to hear that their beloved parishioner was going to be alright.
Another member had prepared an all-gluten-free taco bar meal for us, so we gathered in the parish hall afterwards. Several people commented that they thought I’d probably never forget my visit with them, and I assured them that I would not!
Heidi, the senior warden, said to me, “Well, you’re family, now.”
As we sat together, someone shared that they were sorry we’d missed the solo that one of the young boys had prepared to sing for the offertory. I asked if he was still around, and his mom went to find him in the church where he was playing. He agreed to sing in the parish hall, and his mother played the accompaniment for the piece he’d prepared from a recording on YouTube. He knew every word, and every note, and sang it beautifully; when he finished, we all clapped mightily for him.
The parishioners that Canon Meredith was sitting with mentioned their outreach ministry, Operation Dry Bottoms—a diaper distribution program—and they shared their gratitude for the Episcopal Community Ministries Grant they’d received, which will make it possible for them to cover many more of their expenses. When Meredith shared that she’s going to need to learn about diapers because she’s pregnant, the parishioner she was talking with quickly got up and brought Meredith a bag of newborn diapers—the first gift of diapers that Meredith and her husband, Jackson have received.
People took pictures with us, and wrapped up food for us to take for the trip home, and gave us enough bottles of water to keep us hydrated for that road trip and many more. They asked Meredith to promise to send a picture of the baby as soon as he’s born.
Friends, those things I say about us being the Body of Christ that is the church—across Southern Ohio and beyond… well. I feel like we got to see the blessing and miracle of a small church that Sunday.
The passage from the gospel that day was of Jesus being present to those two disciples as they walked together, and as they gathered and prayed and broke bread. Miracles abounded at St. John’s, Cambridge, the day after the Small Church Summit, just as they do across this diocese and throughout the church, every time we gather in Jesus’ name. Thanks be to God, indeed.
