Thoughts about "Back to Church Sunday"

Dear Friends,
As I have been thinking about Back to Church Sunday and making announcements the past several weeks, I inevitably have found myself singing or humming the opening song to Welcome Back Kotter! Many of you will remember this sitcom that aired weekly back in the mid to late 70’s – I was very young at the time! ? The show revolved around a high school teacher by the name of Gabe Kotter who went back to the High School of his youth in order to fill a teaching position. He was initially struck with horror when he learned that he was being given a class of “unruly” students he affectionately called “the sweat hogs!” As the show progresses you realize the students he initially thought to be problematic were, in the end, actually diamonds in the rough – only waiting to be formed and polished. His commitment to this community bore fruit in some very surprising ways. At first he found the flaws, while in the end he found for himself a place of belonging and fulfillment!

One of my favourite scriptures is Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Perhaps this captures the spirit of Back to Church Sunday in the best of ways. We struggle perhaps with the idea of gathering alongside others who are flawed like those in Kotter’s classroom. We likely enjoy the thought of worshipping God and receiving from His hand of Grace, but to do that in the context of others who are broken like us means opening ourselves to the possibility of being hurt in any number of ways. Paul uses the words “press on” indicating that the journey together may not always be easy, but at the end of the day, it will be worth it. I want to take this opportunity to welcome back those who have been away for the summer and also those who have been away for a longer season and are now finding their way back to church. I pray that God will give us all the courage to press on together, to find in him and in each other that incredible place of belonging and fulfillment – that place where diamonds are formed and polished – that place of hope.

Sincerely in Christ
The Rev. Capt. Stephen Pessah Incumbent

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