Written by Pastor Michele Abbott
A few weeks ago I talked about a planting method called The Three Sisters – which involves planting corn, pole beans and squash together in a mound. When you do this, the corn provides a trellis for the beans helping them reach the sun, the beans provide nitrogen for the soil and the squash provides shade and pest control. These plants grow better together than they do on their own.
I LOVED that image. Especially since Jesus was so clear that we, his followers, are meant to
support each other – that we, too, are better together than we are on our own.
That is the vision of what we hope Oak Knoll provides in your life – that we are a place where you have a community that both needs you and supports you. This kind of community is built by being here and taking time to get to know others in this congregation. This certainly can happen on Sunday morning at worship and fellowship hour– but that isn’t the only way. I see community being built at the Sharing Garden where people show up regularly to weed and water—together.
I see community being built as people plan and execute our Neighborhood Meals, as they volunteer at the Gathering, or quilt for Lutheran World Relief, or decorate the church, or socialize at beer club, or by going on trips with our youth—and in so many other ways. It is in all those settings that relationships are nurtured over time and we share life’s joys and challenges.
Churches are a unique place for building relationships because it is one of the rare places where you interact regularly with people of different generations and different outlooks—and not just for a season but for years, sometimes decades, and occasionally even for lifetimes.
I hope you can imagine Oak Knoll being a place where you can find your own version of The Three Sisters–a place of love, and faith and unwavering support.
Blessings,
Pastor Michele
Comments