~Presence~

(Some of these reflections I found from a while back when I was working with CoffeeLoft.org as the director for the campus ministry. But I thought they were important to share.)

We simply don’t realize the impact ‘presence has. This has been a reoccurring theme throughout the last couple of months.


The first was a thank you note I received from one of my Haitian friends. He went on and on about all I had done for him and his family. This was during the time of the earthquake in Haiti. I was stunned; just that day I was thinking – ‘Have I done anything?’ I felt lost and heartbroken because – ‘What can I do?’ But he said you call and you care and you help us connect us to our other family members. I cried. It was just my call that made a difference and nothing more.


The second was when I went to the funeral of an elderly long term member of our church. I knew I needed to go not because I knew him. But because of his and his wife’s ‘presence’ in the church. They have been lifelong members; they are what I would call ‘Saints’ in the church. But since I have been here I haven’t seen them involved other then tentatively attending every Sunday. But there ‘presence’ speaks to their servitude to God.


And tonight -sometimes campus ministry and church in general are hard. We don’t see people in the pews on Sunday morning and we wonder – are we doing something wrong? Are we sharing Christ with others? But we need to look at our ‘presence’. What does our ‘presence’ say in the community?


We used to have a monthly activity with CoffeeLoft.org known as Coffee Loft Live Music, a jam session in the ‘Loft’ (upstairs) of our church where students come and listen to music of their peers and enjoy coffee and Italian sodas in a candlelit setting with crayons and newsprint on the tables. As some of the students were walking up the stairs, they mentioned how they had volunteered for Welcome Table here in the church. (Welcome Table is a weekly community meal open to everyone and served by people in the community.) So as I sat in a filled room with over 60 students listening to the low key relaxing music and enjoying the presence of the spirit; I was a little sad as I thought in many peoples’ eyes this would not count as ‘church’ or ‘ministry’ because 80% of those students might never sit in the pew Sunday morning. But I believe down the road when they are thinking about churches and experiences they will remember that First UMC in Vermillion that had a jam session for the students and created a place that they could just hang out and relax. And they will think of Welcome Table – that as a college student (and member of the community) they could come and get a free meal and also help serve that meal. They felt and experienced the presence of the church without sitting in church Sunday morning.

It is our presence in the world everyday that shows people our relationship with Jesus. It is the simple things we do every day in our lives for others that shows our spirits to the world. And then I believe when you live your lives that way and you come together Sunday morning with others who live their lives in the same fashion that is when you really worship and celebrate all the gifts and grace that God has given us and that we are able to share with others. So on Sunday morning how can you not stand up and be excited; sing with all your heart and praise the amazement of God in the world.