Visiting McPherson Church of the Brethren

Today I attended church at the McPherson Church of the Brethren with my sister, father and husband. Because my parents moved to McPherson, Kansas in 2000, I have attended church here numerous times. One of the best things about this church, for me personally, is the way they love my father. In 2008 my father had a severe stroke that left him unable to walk and greatly reduced his ability to communicate. The Sunday after his stroke, my sister and I attended church there together so that we could thank the congregation for their prayers. The children's storyteller on that Sunday talked about my father and his love for plants to illustrate her point. I knew that my father was deeply loved in this place. Now my sister takes my father to church almost every Sunday. Everyone stops to greet him. He is so glad to be there.

Regional Youth Conference was held in McPherson this past weekend. The keynote speaker for RYC was Cliff Kindy, a Brethren man from N. Manchester, Indiana who has been heavily involved in Christian Peacemaker Teams. His sermon title was "The End of the War." He encouraged us to have a mindset of the war being over and to work for that end. "War is a lie," he reminded us. The participants of RYC were the worship leaders. You could tell that the children are very loved and encouraged in the congregation because when they came forward for the Children's Story they were irrepressible. They wanted to talk and felt free to share. The songs and responsive readings were projected onto the wall. The letters were all in white. This was also true when I attended Hollywood UMC. Somehow it looks so much classier.

We can dream about all kinds of ways to make our worship more vibrant and appealing....but the thing that most people are looking for is a home. They want to be known. When they come to church with their family who is visiting, they want us to welcome them. They want to know that if, God forbid, they should have a debilitating stroke we will remember who they were when they could communicate for themselves. McPherson Church of the Brethren is all those things and I am so very grateful.