Sacred Threshold ::: Zion's Parents?

Last Sunday a young family came and visited Abbey Way. They happened to sit with my son Isaac and his girlfriend Connie at dinner. This interaction would not be newsworthy if it were not for little six year old Zion sitting next to Isaac. Zion is a delightful young girl with much to say about the world she lives in. She caught Isaac's ear for most of the meal time. When the night was done, a friend came up to me and reported that our guests thought that Zion was Isaac and Connie's daughter. We both smiled at each other with a knowing grin.

Abbey Way is a special place. We are a church that values each member from the oldest to the youngest. We are a church whose fabric of gathering is bound by the quality of relationships between each other. You can especially notice this in how we are with our kids. The kids are with us as people. They are loved and included. Children companion "their adult" for the evening. Isaac was Zion's adult Sunday night. Isaac talked and listened to Zion more than anyone else at the dinner table. Zion sat beside Isaac in worship. Zion was with Isaac the whole night. Thus the confusion about who were her parents.

In a time when people hunger for connection and community, Abbey Way offers something of significance for those who desire to step in. I honestly forget how different we are from other experiences of church until something like this happens and a guest notices something and then I remember our uniqueness. Our children are with us from the beginning to the end. An outsider may not know whose child is whose just from experiencing the quality of the interactions between the adults and kids. They truly are our children.

For a newcomer who is either not use to children or leery of others involvement with their children, Abbey Way can be a scary place. We hold common way of life together. We eat at the table together. We move towards the children as individuals and a group for guidance and shepherding. We come to the communion table adult / child/ adult / child. We believe kids can work side by side with us in our life together as a community. We believe they have something to say to us. We love them and protect them fiercely. To commit to Abbey Way means you bring your whole self as well as your children into the circle of opening and turning towards everyone. This is quite a demanding ask for those who been trained to be independent of others even in our experience of church.

The funny thing about this story is that the truth of the matter is that Zion "is" my granddaughter: not biologically but spiritually. She is mine in the best sense of that understanding. She has been given to me to raise. I am a part of her life and she is a part of mine. When I was on chemo, Zion prayed for me. She approached me and asked my how I was doing. She cared for me. Conversely, I cheer her accomplishments and admonish her missing the mark. I love seeing her grow and become who God is creating her to be. I love her and she loves me.

When I read books on the church and what God is doing today in reforming the Body of Christ, I do not read these stories. I do not hear about how God reforms hearts and heals wounds when a body of believers chooses to struggle rightly with the inclusion of children in their communities of faith. Change for us at Abbey Way happens on so many levels from the willingness to stop a conversation with another adult and notice a child in need in a food line to making room for others children beside us in worship with all their wiggles and wonders. Abbey Way has chosen to make room for the kids since the beginning. They are part of us. How we are together with them is a unique mark of who we are as a church.

Oh how I love what God is doing at Abbey Way. It is totally amazing.