Start With Hello

A Minister's Message from Rev. Dr. Chris Shorow, Senior Minister cshorow@fccedmond.org 405.341.3544

Most of us are hungry for the same thing: a place where we are known. A community that notices when we are missing, celebrates when we are thriving, and stays close when life gets hard. Every day, I hear someone lament how much quicker we seem to divide than to connect. Isolation is easy to slide into and hard to climb out of alone.

We feel it too, and we believe it is holding all of us back from something better. But we also know the way back tends to start small. Someone says hello. They remember your name, ask how life is going, and listen deeply enough to actually hear the answer. They notice you sitting alone and pull up a chair at an open table.

We’re going to think about that together for a couple of weeks this August. Our Start With Hello series begins just as a new school year does, when kids and teens are heading back into classrooms, hallways, and lunchrooms, often wondering where they fit. This series offers practical, everyday ways to care for our neighbors, because we know there are people waiting to be seen in the places we already live, work, and learn.

I’m not saying the church is going to solve polarization, but I still believe we can recover our capacity to notice, listen, and love the neighbor in front of us. I think it starts with making a little space at the table. Let's start with hello and see where it leads.