A Worldwide Family Reunion

I come from a very small family. One sister, no aunts, no uncles, no cousins. We could hold our family reunions in a phone booth. (For you millennials who don’t know what a “phone booth” is, Google it.) But when I married Cyndi, I was welcomed into a very large, very scattered and very diverse family. Cyndi taught me what real family reunions look like.

You may not realize it, but this weekend is like one of those large family reunions…except for the Church. The first Sunday in October is celebrated by millions and millions of Christians as “World Communion” Sunday. All around the world our Christian brothers and sisters of every tribe, tongue and ethnicity will be speaking the words of Jesus over a table that bears their version of bread or wafer and juice or wine. From the mega-church in Africa to the home-church in China to the persecuted church in Syria to a Sweetheart church in Gig Harbor, very different people from across the globe will gather around a very common meal in remembrance of a very special Savior.

Of course, we stretch our “Sunday” into Saturday, too. In fact, our 6:30 pm Saturday service will be kicking in about the same time as those Sunday-goers halfway around the world, in case you want to get a head start!

As your pastor, I hope every weekend’s worship is a priority for you. But this one, particularly, is a good time to say, “We are going to church! There’s a big family reunion going on!”

Dr. Mark James Toone
Senior Pastor
Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church

PS – Speaking of worldwide experiences, I will host an information meeting on Sunday, November 4, at 6:00 pm in the Memorial Chapel for my upcoming Holy Land Pilgrimage, November 22-December 4, 2019. You have a year to save and plan! Join me to find out more about this trip of a lifetime.