The Place Where you Belong

 As I mentioned in a previous post, at Annual Conference this year, Michael Beck, who is the Director of Fresh Expressions for the United Methodist Church was the guest speaker for our educational time.  

Among the information he shared, was a focus on compassion. He reported that we are living in an epidemic of isolation and loneliness.  We as the church have the gift to offer: a communal life in Christ. People are longing for that gift. And yet, 1 in 3 people have experienced religious trauma. He theorizes that we are having a crisis of compassion in the church. We don't offer wholeness or belonging.

Soon after Michael Beck's presentation, we heard the song "Well Done" by the Afters.  Here is the chorus:

Well done, well done

My good and faithful one

Welcome to the place where you belong

Well done, well done

My beloved child

You have run the race and now you're home

Welcome to the place where you belong.

In my mind this came together: in our churches, we should be offering compassion and hospitality to such a radical degree that it is like heaven - Welcome to the place where you belong.