(Photo taken at Our Little Roses home in Honduras.)

Last night, a cadre of folks who have been participating in various aspects of our “church without walls” ministry came together to reflect on what God might be doing in us. We took time to think and share about how God is showing up for us, individually and as a community.

One participant, Jamie Chiles, sent me some thoughts this morning. Her words articulate well the heart of what this ministry is about and the potential of what it can be for those who are drawn to it, whether they be housed or unhoused, churched or unchurched, poor or affluent, black or white. Jamie wrote this:

This morning it came to me that the name, Church Without Walls, is also a metaphor for what is happening within us.  That we have walls that we construct to elevate ourselves, judge, separate us from others on an unconscious as well as a conscious level.  Then the words of Ephesians came to me as a reminder that Christ “has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall…(making us) fellow citizens with God’s people.”  Then we can say, not that we are doing ministry for the homeless but simply that we gather together in the name of Christ and see our brother and sister.

Jamie’s insight draws on the second chapter of the letter to the Ephesians.  In it, Paul promises that we are no longer strangers or aliens, that we are members of the household of God. With Jesus as the cornerstone, whoever we are, we are joined together, as we grow into a holy temple – a dwelling place for God (Eph 2:19-22).

Thanks, Jamie, for being willing to share!