What if church wasn't just a place to go....but something we do? By Rebecca Wong

In my former life as an elementary school teacher, one of my “missions” was to teach children to read, a basic key to unlock the riches of the literate world. And indeed, we found that we could teach children to decode and sound out words, but they often didn’t know what it was they had just read. To build comprehension, one needs to be able to connect the words with real life meaning. And so it is with the church, as we attempt to build the Kingdom of God, we need to infuse real life into what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

What if church was more than a place? What if church was not just a noun, but a verb? What an exciting concept! As I look through scripture, these words of Jesus jump out at me, screaming for attention: GO……..FEED….VISIT….CLOTHE….GIVE….INVITE….SELL….BUILD….MAKE….FORGIVE….BE….PRAY….LOVE! All are verbs, actions, ways that God calls us to be alive as Christians. And the fact is, that Jesus didn’t always “DO” this ministry in safe, easy, comfortable ways; he prayed with sinners, ate with the outcast, invited the weak, walked with the common, everyday folk of the villages who had needs, both physical and spiritual.

What might such a ministry look like in the urban setting of Oakland? Maybe it would be inviting the homeless to share a meal, selling our possessions to help provide goods and services to the needy, standing in solidarity with undocumented immigrants, walking alongside those who need health care or affordable housing, voting for systemic changes that benefit the common good and not just our own bank accounts, opening our doors to community needs, praying with people who may look different from us on the outside, but who are all our brothers and sisters in the Family of God.

I believe that just as in order for a reader to comprehend a passage he needs to connect what he reads to his own life, so Christians, in order to fully comprehend what it means to live out the Kingdom of God, need to connect the “verbs” of ministry to our real lives. The verbs are what enable us to reach out and connect with the community, and in doing so, we connect with God. CCUMC has made some wonderful beginnings along these lines: providing space for Homework Club, AYSC, and the ACMHS programs, working at the Lake Merritt Food Bank, building a school in Uganda, raising money for disaster relief, and working with people in the local community. Praise God for the ways these ministries have brought new life and hope both to the church and the community.

And with God’s help, we can do even more. What if we started each day asking God, what is it I should be DOING for your Kingdom today? How should I be connecting with the needs of my brothers and sisters today? How can I “BE” Jesus to everyone I meet today? How can I engage my CCUMC community of faith in being fully alive in Christ? Choose a verb from the scripture, and LIVE it with joy!