Pastor Ray's Blog

Dear Friends,

My son, Phil, writes a daily “blog” to help inform his congregation about the work that he and the congregation are engaged in with urban ministry. He basically directs the outreach to the city of Atlanta of a downtown church. Diane and I were both fascinated with a recent posting. I’ll set it up by saying, every Wednesday evening this church hosts a Bible Study for homeless men. They also have a Sunday afternoon worship service for those who are homeless. This article has to do with their practice of having name tags for the men who attend the Bible study. Let me share it with you.

“One of the funniest things to me about our Wednesday Night Bible Study has been…the name tags. We create name tags for the men that are just like the North Avenue member name tags. The reason it has been funny is because of how important they are.

I think it’s because having a name tag gives them (the homeless men) a sense of belonging to our community. They are accepted. They are a part of a special club. These are guys that society has cast off. These are guys that frequently aren’t welcomed to join. Yet for one night a week we know them by name. If a guy is new, he makes sure that I have his name to get a name tag made. If a guy can’t find his name tag he urgently addresses the issue.

How many of us look forward to putting our name tag on? I know our staff collectively dreads wearing a name tag, probably because we aren’t as desperately seeking belonging. To us it’s just an annoying part of our outfit. We take our belonging for granted. We probably wouldn’t if we’d been cast aside by society like many of our Bible Study participants.”

We have had name tags at Triangle for years. As we began to grow it became increasingly evident that if we were go  ing to get to know one another we were going to need some help. Name tags were just one strategy we thought might make it easier for us to put names and faces together. 

Isn’t it interesting that something we take for granted, like having a permanent name tag, can be so important to others who are searching for a place to belong? In truth we all need a place to belong. We were created by God to live in community. We often see God’s work most clearly in community. Think of Pentecost. It was as the people were gathered in one place that the church was empowered by the Spirit. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of Jesus coming back again is drawing near.”

As we make our way through the spring and head into summer, let’s make sure we take full advantage of the great opportunities we will have to “meet together” and “encourage one another” in worship and fellowship. We belong to God and to each other!

Together with you in Christ’s service,