January Newsletter Article

Apparently, winter strikes with a frigid forcefulness that serves to remind us “yes, I'll be here for a while.” For me, the cold, snowy and icy weather is initially accompanied by the joy of the holidays and the festivities of the season. I can manage frigid temperatures and blizzard-like conditions relatively well when I consider the coming warmth of loved ones gathered to share meaningful time together. Then New Years comes and goes... the cold lingers and winter doesn't care to leave. The plunging temperatures, slippery transport, and barren terrain feel a lot less “special” and lot more depressing. Going 20 or more days without sun actually makes me glad that I am often inside reading and studying for hours upon hours.

But maybe “the cold” can do more than drive us into escapism through books, or movies, or work, or whatever else we take up to avoid the outdoors. I think “the cold” can remind us about our sources of warmth and, more specifically, about what it means to be “warm.” A detour through physics—if a student of religion may be so bold!—might be in order here. Air molecules are constantly moving around us. In moving around, air molecules produce energy or heat. What happens when the temperature drops is that air molecules are slowing down, and the slower they move the less energy they produce. When air molecules speed up and get “excited,” they bounce around and release more energy enabling us to feel warmer.

Living in a community of faith is a lot like temperature. In fact, we often use temperature as a metaphor to describe communities: “oh, that church is just so warm and friendly” or “I felt so cold and distant with those people.” In my first experience with Community Christian Church I immediately noticed the friendliness, care, and welcoming character of the members and the worship service. I've heard that observation echoed by visitors. I think it's safe to say that Community Christian Church strives to be a warm and friendly place. But if that is the case, if we approach being a “warm” church seriously, then we might wonder what it takes to be “warm.”

Just as warm air results from excited, moving molecules, so too a warm congregation is one in which its members are excited and moving. Enthusiasm and passion expressed in service and dedication to the ministries of the church are what it takes to “heat the building.” If you look at the characteristics of a “cold church,” you'll see one in which the members have lost their passion for worship, service, and community, and ultimately a place where those very members are only minimally involved (at best).

There is plenty to be excited about this year at Community Christian Church. There are plenty of activities, events, programs, and ministries for which you can be a part. The church needs you if is it to truly embody the warmth that brings life. After all, even the body of Christ needs healthy “body temperature.” Yet, what ultimately grounds the warmth of any church, big or small, on fire or lukewarm, is the God who we find revealed in Jesus Christ. There, in the passion of Christ, in the energy that was sacrifice and service, commitment and action, we find a source of warmth that can fuel any person and any community. When we tap into that source, we'll find our “warmth” can bring life.

When the parts of the church that are its people get excited and start moving, then something tangible is produced. The people of the church create a warmth that visitors and the community at large can sense. It not only sustains our life, for we all need a healthy “body” temperature, but it radiates into the world around us. “Something is happening there,” someone might say, “I can feel the warmth.” In this time of winter coldness we might find that warmth is only a church-door away. I hope its ours.