Room for Us All
A Worship Series on Belonging
A Message from Rev. Dr. Chris Shorow, Senior Minister cshorow@fccedmond.org
After five weeks away on sabbatical, I'm so glad to be back. While you've been exploring what it means to truly thrive and engaging in conversations for the common good, I’ve been doing some reflection of my own. I had time to travel and time at home, sharing long, restful days with Beth, Paxton, William, and Clark. While I loved this gift of time, inevitably my thoughts would drift back to this community and the relationships that add meaning and depth to my life.
It’s no secret—I’m wired for connection. I love hearing your stories, greeting you on Sunday mornings, sitting around tables together, and walking alongside you through both joyful and challenging seasons. Again and again this church shows me how God’s love and connection help us thrive.
As I settle back into the rhythms of ministry, I’m revisiting a worship series my colleagues and I began planning earlier this summer. It’s called Room for Us All, and after five weeks of seeing things from a different angle, I believe it speaks directly to what so many are yearning for: real community, honest connection, and a sense of belonging. But I also recognize how weary we’ve become from the effort it sometimes takes to find and maintain those things.
You know that feeling when you walk into a room and quietly wonder: Do I fit here? Are these my kind of people? Will they get me? It's exhausting to keep measuring whether you're saying the right things, parenting the right way, or holding it all together just enough to earn your place at the table.
The truth is, we're all looking for people who believe we're worth knowing, who stick around when things get messy, and who keep things going when we need to step away. And those who are genuinely glad to see us when we walk through the door.
That's precisely what I experienced last Sunday—warm smiles, kind greetings, and colleagues who not only carried on but helped this church flourish while I was away. I returned to a community rooted in grace and connection.
In his book Cherished Belonging, Father Gregory Boyle writes, "The invitation of Jesus was not to change but to belong. And once you belong, then you're invited to change." That's how real community begins—not with expectations or performance, but with love that makes space for transformation.
From August 17 through September 7, we’ll be reflecting on what it takes to become that kind of community—a place where people can show up as themselves, navigate differences with grace, and find connection across all the things that divide. Not to stay the same, but to grow, to be transformed, and to join in the work of healing the world.
In a time when so much of what we see in the news or on social media feels divisive, dehumanizing, or fueled by fear, these four weeks offer a hopeful alternative.
• The Need to Belong – Why connection isn't optional
• When We Other One Another – How we create insiders and outsiders
• The Courage to Bridge the Gap – What it takes to reach across difference
• We Make Belonging Together – Building community that actually works
This is a moment to keep practicing what we value most: creating space for genuine connection, showing up in seasons of both hurt and joy, and investing in each other’s families and futures. It’s also a meaningful time to invite someone in—someone carrying big questions, raising kids while navigating a complicated world, or wondering if church can really be a place of depth, honesty, and hope. They deserve to know they don’t have to keep searching alone, and that belonging can open the door to the kind of change that heals lives and helps mend the world.
So mark your calendar and plan to be here on Sunday, August 17, as we launch Room for Us All and gather for our Fall Kick-Off Breakfast—an all-church celebration of Belonging! There’s room for you, and room for others you might bring along.
First Christian, you offer a rare and life-giving way to be church. And it's more important than ever. Let’s show the world there truly is Room for Us All.
—Chris