Yesterday nearly twenty staff members of eight area congregations met for lunch. Others in the area wanted to be there, but were interrupted in their schedule. It was a "preachers' luncheon". Ah, my keyboard would hardly go with me on that typing.
It was different than any such experience I've had in my 30+ years in Tulsa. There was unanimous respect and love and support. I was very moved. Marvin wept. He leaned over at one point and in broken sentence said, There "is" hope.
We discussed our various works. The body of Christ in Tulsa has a lot of rich labor being exerted in things that matter. I am personally so happy to see consistent interest by so many churches in giving Memorial Drive assistance with the workshop. It's been a long time coming, but I felt we would get there.
For the first time I sense such harmony among so many area preachers. Truly, my first two decades in this area were pretty rough. I don't know if these younger guys get the picture. Marvin and I do. We've never seen unity before. What a sight! Guys laughing and genuinely interested in one another...and not just a select few of one another....everyone was in the mix. No cheap shots. No rolling of the eyes. No sneering. Amazing joy! Moving joy! Sheer joy!
11 comments:
Your experience in practicing patience for God's timing in the fog post and the joy of this post go hand in hand. It is exciting to see eight congregations living in harmony.
Keep the faith,
James
Amen! Unity is lovely!
You know that sounds "heavenly".
It was the highlight of my day yesterday. What a great group of guys (and one gal)!
God's doing amazing things in Tulsa with this group.
A few months ago we had a joint worship service with the Omaha Church of Christ, one of the ICOC churches. There was an electricity in the air. The worship was wonderful. The fellowship afterwards was so positive and so gratifying. Earlier in the summer we had done a joint VBS. Everything has left us saying, "Let's do this again!" I know why Satan doesn't like unity, it's so exciting! There is hope, Terry!
It does sound lovely, but will the congregations follow the open yearning of their leaders to move on? It is hard to press on when so many are shackled by traditions and fear of "doing the wrong thing". How can we become spririt filled and begin to see the whole Kingdom of God? I pray for the walls to fall. Love ya, Lynn
Psalm 133
Larry Wishard
That's truly wonderful, Terry. I've known both kinds of preachers' gatherings. I've seen the eye-rolling, and I've enjoyed great fellowship (I really used to enjoy the youth ministers' meetings/lunches in the Texoma area).
It is kind of funny, though, that I read this on return to the office. I went to preachers' breakfast this morning and was the only one to show up. But there was great unity, mostly between the coffee, egg, and sausage. On the plus side, I got a month's worth of sermon topics lined out...and no one rolled their eyes!
I might have gone to more preacher's luncheons had they been like that! The ones I attended seemed to be all about one-upmanship.
What I would have given...
May God be praised. Disunity is such a black eye on the church, but unity is so, so sweet.
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