What if church is a verb?

July 23, 2024

Recently someone enthusiastically told me, “I love how Bridge of Hope has made “neighboring” a verb!”

That got me thinking! Maybe it is time to make “church” a verb as well.

Church is not a building but a gathered community of Jesus-followers who are a sign of God’s presence in the world. So how do we flip church to become a verb?

As a noun, we say: I am going to church. Can church really be a building, if church is a gathering?

As a verb, perhaps church is about “we.” We are churching. We are gathering to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to worship, to serve, to open our arms in wide embrace of those who agree or disagree with us, politically and theologically. A wide embrace of those who don’t look like us, racially and ethnically. A wide embrace of those in poverty and with wealth, housed and unhoused, who struggle to pay bills, who have experienced so much trauma that each day is a testimony to their resiliency. A wide embrace of those who live in a van, a campground, a run-down motel, a shelter or a home.

Will you church with me?

Poet Godfrey Rust writes this beautiful poem entitled “Church is a Verb,” and I love this line: “God churches us and also churches through us.”

This past year in Bridge of Hope, the average length of time that families needed support services from us increased from 18 months to 21 months. In the midst of a housing crisis with astronomical rent increases over the past 5 years, it comes as no surprise that families need support for longer periods of time in their journey out of homelessness and into stability.

I love seeing God church through Neighboring Volunteers who are doing life with families facing homelessness.

Let’s church. Let’s be the church. The body of Christ. And together end family homelessness!

Edith Yoder
Chief Executive Officer

 

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What if church is a verb?