What's for dinner?
Can someone please put the salt on the table?
Is the tea made? When will the coffee be ready?
Who is on "dishes"?
Sounds like home – the chaos around the dinner table. It's also a taste of heaven, the body of Christ, in action. It's the community dinner at St. Andrew's, Sutton, Ont., on Tuesday night. Every Tuesday night, rain or shine, summer or winter.
It all began with dinner, common enough, routine and necessary. Some of us in the congregation wanted to help our community to share our good fortune, our recipes and good cooking. Some of us wanted to get to know our neighbours. Some of us wanted to share dinner together.
Who is my neighbour? Who is my family? Who is my community?
My neighbour is the middle-aged woman, recently widowed, who cooks. My neighbour is the elderly couple without a car who bake pies for dessert.
My family are the students from the local high school who help serve dinner. My family is the little girl skipping around the church basement.
My community is a mom with two little ones in the stroller and one on the way. My community is a young man recently out of prison.
We share the meal, we share our stories, we share the disappointment of struggles in our lives, we share the blessings and joys of the seasons of life. We laugh, we cry, we praise the cooks. We remember Jesus saying "Love the Lord your God with all your heart your soul and your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself."
What is for dinner? Sounds like home. We are in the presence of the Spirit.
– Rachael Green-Enkel
Our deaf church was going to be closed soon. My husband, Harry and I, (both of us are deaf) also had a call from the Lord to find another church. We had a very hard decision about which church to join as there were no sign language interpreters or deaf pastor who can sign.
I decided to go for a walk in a peaceful park to talk to the Lord for guidance. In frustration, I yelled in my mind at the Lord, "Show me a sign! Which church?!" A few minutes later, Pastor Jim Young walked his dog past me. We said a short hello to each other and moved on. I recognized him from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church that we visited on Christmas Eve last year. I asked the Lord "Is this the sign?" Yes!
I spoke with my friend Kathy Russell about seeing Young as the sign. Kathy goes to his church. We discussed how the church can serve deaf people. We got the idea of using a computer and having somebody type what the pastor was saying and the hymns, so that we could follow on a screen.
We started going to St. Andrew's along with three deaf people. We sign the song along with the hearing people who are singing and listen to the sermon while looking at the computer screen. We feel the sense of belonging as the people welcome us warmly.
For the last three years we also have our own Bible study for the deaf in our home. The deaf people learn so much about God through sign language and enjoy signing songs together. We also have tea and goodies, of course! It grew to 10 people with eight children. I have seen some changes in these deaf people spiritually. Praise the Lord!
– Suzanne Lambert
After I arrived at St. Andrew's, in 2001, it became obvious that the congregation was tired of working to keep the doors open. Indeed, it could be said that the congregation had been on life-support for some time. Worship was routine, dull. There was no plan for the future; there was no one natural or supernatural to expect hope from; there was no purpose for being. Was it time to switch off the ventilator? A visioning group came together to search for alternatives. Plans were made, a prayer and praise time started on Thursday evenings. Suzanne Lambert and her group joined our congregation. Worship became joyful. As the congregation reached out to each other, it began to breathe on its own and the Holy Spirit became free to encourage and lead.
Session wondered if we had enough people to produce a community meal each Tuesday evening. Twenty people turned up at the organizational meeting. Some people actually came to be fed! Wow! Now there are 60 to 70 that come each week. However, we are a small congregation just off of life support. Some of us do not support the meal – some think the people who come should be working, and so forth. Someone hoped that "these" people should not be allowed into the sanctuary! My, my, my! Change is incredibly tough in smaller, older congregations. Or . should I simply say, in the church. The street people (yes, we have them in Sutton) used to ask me for my change. Now they also stop to talk. One of them even asked for prayer.
We are helped by the community with our efforts on Tuesday evenings. However, the sad truth is that St. Andrew's will come to the end of its financial resources next year. The Presbytery of Oak Ridges has been asked to help but it has financial commitments to other churches. Will St. Andrew's live or die in Jesus Christ? Isn't St. Andrew's like but unlike 80 per cent of the congregations in our denomination across Canada? If you would support our ministry through your prayers we would be grateful.
– Rev. Jim Young
