O, CHURCH: A Poetic Reflection by The Rev. Debbie McMillan
(Inspired by Hebrews 10:19-25 and the Tri-Regional Spring Conference Theme for 2024: “Life Together”)

O, Church,
you beautiful body
Of perfect brokenness—
How is it
That you grow stronger
in your most vulnerable seasons?
O, Church,
How do your shoulders
Widen and broaden
Shifting burden after burden
Integrating and accommodating
The weight of worries and wonderings
The weight of endings and beginnings?
How are you only pressed and not crushed?
O, Church,
How do you adapt your pace
From the frenzied panic of anxious chaos
To the intentional stillness of a silent prayer?
How do you guide? How do you companion?
How do you follow?
Simultaneously journeying in step with the lost, the seeking and the found.
And yet, Church I address YOU
But
O, Church,
We know
WE are YOU
And you are us.
As silos crumble into history
And the Jericho walls come tumbling down
We turn from isolation
To integration
From dismembered to incorporated
Reincorporated—reinvigorated
Through the empowerment of The Spirit!
We are made in Your Image
Each one of us intentionally gathered
Into this cruciform
Which is somehow Christ
And somehow not?
O, church,
Look around!
See the diversity of the gathered body
And be encouraged!
Be encouraged to see
that we can be together
And
do Life Together!
O Church, O broken body of hopeful believers
We are not alone, we do not work alone
We do not commune alone
We do not pray alone
We cannot ever be alone
Because we live in God’s World
And God is always with us!
O church, let us be confident and encouraged
In this sacred work—reorganizing, re-distributing
Remembering
That renewal is our task
And resurrection is God’s.
We trust in God.
God is always faithful!

“Finish then, Thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see Thy great salvation
perfectly restored in Thee.
Changed from glory into glory,
till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before Thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise”