The Village ILWIDIot
“Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near.” –Hebrews 10:25, CEB
From their very beginnings, the Brethren have found value in community. Faith was not just something to be practiced internally, but also to be lived out as part of a group of believers.
Brethren worshiped together, studied Scripture together, and tried to discern God’s will for their movement—together. It provided support and encouragement, especially in challenging times, but it also provided broader perspectives and understandings and helped to curb the excesses that can come when faith becomes too individualized and all about us.
It’s a model that appears through much of the New Testament: Jesus and his disciples, the early church that “lived in a wonderful harmony” and shared everything (Acts 2:44, The Message), Paul and his traveling companions and the church communities they began, councils at Jerusalem and Antioch, and elsewhere.
As Brethren diligently sought to live out that model, they developed similar practices of mutuality and sharing in their own corporate life. As Ken Morse eloquently wrote in the hymn “Strangers No More,” when we are part of the body of Christ, we are “strangers no more, but members of one family … strangers no more, we’re sisters and we’re brothers now.”
That understanding is part of the reason the love feast—which many congregations recently celebrated—is so central to Brethren theology, as we come around the table together. And it’s a key reason that the “Big Meeting” of Annual Conference, as well as the other places we gather in districts and larger circles, has been woven into the fabric of denominational life.
The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, disrupted those rhythms in all sorts of ways, forcing many congregations to forego their gatherings for a time or find creative ways to do them. Annual Conference was cancelled in 2020 and was held virtually in 2021; the same was true with the district conference here. Many have felt a sense of loss around all of that.
Zoom and other technological platforms have helped to bridge those gaps in many cases, and I’m grateful for those options and the possibilities they provide. But it’s not the same as being together in the same space. As one of my former supervisors used to say, “I want to be able to eyeball them.” There’s value in being able to see one another face-to-face.
While the pandemic is not fully behind us, its effects and immediacy have waned significantly, and so we are looking forward to having district conference together in Peoria next month, for the first time in three years. A virtual option will still be available for those who need it, but many of the delegates and non-delegates will be there in person. I’m looking forward to seeing many of those eyeballs, and I hope some of you are, too.
Blessings to each of you in Illinois and Wisconsin as we go forward, together, as the body of Christ.
District executive schedule: In addition to regular meetings, Walt will be leading worship at Naperville Oct. 9, preaching/sharing at Franklin Grove Oct. 16, helping with the district campfire at Camp Emmaus Oct. 22, preaching at Dixon Oct. 23, doing an online Council of District Executives meeting Oct. 25, leading an installation and licensing service at Dutchtown (Milledgeville) Oct. 30, and taking part in district conference and Leadership Team meetings in Peoria Nov. 4-5.
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