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Church Hop #1 – NEXT BLOCK PICNIC

Darryl and I have begun our road trip to Halifax, and we pulled into Kingston as our first stay over. Besides being the third wheel of Darryl and his wonderful girlfriend I had other intentions of coming to Kingston this weekend. Of course, part of them being I got to go out for nachos and one of the best brownies I’ve ever had with my friend April who lives here. However, one thing I really wanted to do was check out this church called Next that a number of people have been raving about.

It is part of the Free Methodist denomination but when you walk in apparently the last thing you think of is Free Methodist. We got the opportunity this evening to go to a Block Party that Next was putting on right around the corner. They had the biggest barbeque I’ve ever seen, a stage, popsicles, salads and drinks and it was all for free for the community. I would guess there were about 300 people crammed into the park and they were all interacting with each other. It was a pretty cool because there were so many kids and they were running around playing with each other and with all the adults around. People were laughing and having a good time and even the people that were serving looked like they loved their jobs (something you don’t see too often in people serving you).

It gets me pretty excited to see communities being cultivated this way. I absolutely love it. Bethel in Sarnia did a day today too, called FamJam, how did it go? Was anyone there? I love these events that Bethel do. Temple has gathering nights once a month where everyone in the church hangs out at a picnic or something of the sort. I think those are the times that bring them together the most. I honestly think that churches today would be much better off if every other week (or some sequence of dates) the church stopped their service and just hung out with each other. Church services seem to be so focused on getting everything into an hour and a half (songs, sermon, offering and announcements) that we forget the biggest part of it. Communion not just with God but with each other.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if instead of a church service every month the entire church got together for a massive potluck and did communion together as a community? I think that would be a lot better than small cups, crackers and a thirty second greet your neighbor time. I think it would be awesome for the church to make it part of their vision to see the people in their churches not just show up on Sunday mornings but actually take time to make environments where relationships can be grown and brought together. If our church isn’t doing it, maybe its time that we invite people over for dinner more or organize things where our neighbors can come and hang out.

1 thought on “Church Hop #1 – NEXT BLOCK PICNIC”

  1. Fam Jam exceeded our expectations Nathan. It was a fantastic day.
    I am especially proud of the seniors that were there. The music and general atmosphere were not exactly in their comfort zone but they hung in there all day with smiles on their faces.
    Now we will have to see how the follow up goes.
    Have fun on the trip.

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