Sometimes, they call it Mosey Monday. It usually happens the first day of the week that a building crew from an Appalachian Project Service Team meets up with the family whose home they will be working in. It is a casual time of beginning to build relational bridges, not just to get a sense of the construction tasks, but of getting to know what this family loves and how they dream. They mosey. As the week rolls along, it becomes clear that the task is not simply to improve a house, but to build community. As one quote from family who received a team from New York has it, “I would never have believed that people would take off a week of their time, travel all the way down here to West Virginia, and do all this wonderful work. Y’all have restored my faith in humanity.’ And the team leader said, “And they have restored ours.”
Jesus was once speaking with his disciples, and he told them, “Once when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat.” He followed up by saying that when he did not have appropriate clothing, they took care of him. He continued by saying that when he was in prison, that they came to see him. But the disciples did not remember any of this. So Jesus told them that when they did these things to others, they were doing it to Jesus. This is how we build the beloved community. This is how the beloved community weaves us all in together.
We’ll talk about this in worship on Sunday. Our Appalachian Service Project team will tell us about their work in Johnson City, Tennessee back in April. Mary Beth Morgan will preach a sermon titled, “To Bless and Be Blest.” The sermon will arise from Matthew 25: 31-40, which will be read by Sue Sgambelluri. Maria Schmidt will lead the call to worship. We’ll be led musically by the Chancel Choir, directed by Gerry Sousa and accompanied by Gabriel Fanelli. We’ll have a moment for children, and sing and pray together.