Weekly Greeting - July 25, 2025
Well, that was fun!
Here is the perspective of an “outsider” who has been anticipating Fish Fry for the last four months: it is one thing to know about Fish Fry — to hear the stories and even to be familiar with some of the details — but it is another thing entirely to experience Fish Fry.
When I turned into the church parking lot on Friday morning, I literally gasped. The banners, the signs, the directionals all pointed to one thing — a church that truly cares about welcoming its neighbors.
I got to be part of the tomato-slicing team and heard this phrase more than once: “If you wouldn’t want it on your plate, don’t give it to someone else.” What a practical application of Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount: In everything do to others as you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12).
Even something as simple as a tomato communicates hospitality, and every single thing that happened on Friday from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. communicated to our neighbors that we wanted them there.
Sometimes I wonder if we as a society are in danger of unlearning the art of hospitality. Our digital communications are a simple and comfortable substitute for face-to-face interactions, and I’m pointing to myself as much as I am anyone else.
What a testimony for the church to be a means by which our society clings to the gift of hospitality, showing the world the kind of welcome that Jesus would offer if he were here among us.
Beginning in mid-August we will enter a sermon series called “At the Table,” crafted by my friend and colleague Rev. Jefferson Furtado. We will explore what the scriptures teach us about hospitality as a way of life for those who desire to follow Jesus, and we will closely examine ourselves and our church as we ask the questions: How has God provided for us and how are we providing for others? Who did Jesus welcome at his table? Is there really enough for everyone?
Grateful for all of you!
Mary Beth