From the Harrison Ford film Witness

This scene pulls together a lot of things I have been thinking about recently, especially, “There is never only one way.” Working together in the Kingdom of God will require some really wild creativity, because we are facing some really wild challenges.

Last Sunday, some volunteers from Continuum Church helped to serve breakfast at New Life United Methodist Church. The pastor, Jennifer Castor, is a Curves member, and several months ago, she took the time to have breakfast with me and give me some very valuable information about our neighborhood.

Each Sunday, her church serves breakfast to 150+ neighbors, many of whom are currently experiencing homelessness. They start serving cereal and pastries at 6:30 a.m., and are ready to serve hot breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Each guest also has the opportunity to get a new outfit from the clothing room, and take a lunch with him or her. This is a well-oiled operation, managed beautifully by an articulate gentleman named Chuck. He made us feel very welcome and put us right to work.

It was fantastic to see volunteers from several different churches work together in the very early morning in a very un-air-conditioned kitchen to provide for our neighbors in need. The guys at the stove scrambling hundreds of eggs were from Hilltop Lutheran, the lady buttering toast was a friend of Chuck’s from the business sector, and the young teenage girls in the clothing room were from yet another congregation. Our opening prayer was lead by Brian, who was once a guest for breakfast. He has since found Jesus, employment, and housing and is back each week to serve. “New Life” indeed.

We’re serving there again this week, since they were short-handed because of the holiday weekend. I can’t think of a better reason to get up three hours early on a Sunday morning.