Practising Kinship

Last week’s blog began this way:
In Christ we, though many,
form one body, and each member
belongs to all the others.

“This is Southpoint”—this is the name of the perpetual birthday calendar hanging in our sanctuary. The building we meet in is not our church. Sunday morning service is not our church. We do not GO to church, we ARE church. As a church, our purpose is to EMBODY Jesus, ENFLESH Jesus. Church is being in kinship with one another, in Jesus. It is about extending this kinship outward into the world.

I woke early Sunday morning…

and went over to Redwood Park to nab one of those beautiful long tables for our community to gather at. Craig joined me—we washed the table tops and seats, spread out tablecloths, and picked buttercups bouquets. Birds were singing, and the fresh green of late spring seemed to exhale blessing into the air around me. 

I felt kinship with the earth and with Craig.

Flying home the day before, from Calgary, I had begun to feel the tickle of a cough coming on. By nightfall, the cough had deepened and I had a fever. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to stay for the Sunday gathering, I sent a S.O.S text to some folks: Can you come early to host and welcome? Who can stay late and tidy up? The offers of help began to come, reassuring me that the morning was in good hands. 

I felt kinship with my church.

Later, Karin sent me a little video of everyone. People were chatting, nibbling at food. Kids were playing, a few teens were walking a dog. 

People said the gathering was “playful”, “casual and relaxed”; there were goodies to share, disc golf frisbees to toss, birds singing, and a bright hum of conversation and laughter from 41 people. “It was wonderful to get to go slow and linger in conversation. It was enriching to eat and drink and share together”. And the Hubbard boys said “it was fun to play together!” 

I felt the kinship in these connections. 

After a hard weekend at the Assembly, I am grateful for these simple experiences of kinship which reorient me back towards God’s abundance. 

I can’t wait til the next time we practice being church at the long table:)

Thank you for BEING church together this way, Southpoint.

Sun. Jun 5  Pentecost
Speaker: Anne Baxter Smith
Kinship in the Spirt

Sun. Jun 12
Speaker: Anne Baxter Smith

Sun. Jun 19
Speaker: Nadia VanderKuip

Sun. Jun 26 All Out Service
(No gathering at Sunnyside)

New to Southpoint?

At Southpoint, it all begins with God’s love. Just as a plant grows, it receives sunshine, so we grow as we receive God’s love. At Southpoint, we are growing in our capacity to love God, ourselves, one another, and Creation.

We seek to be a community of grace that is intentional yet organic, spacious yet authentic, grace-filled yet accountable. * We are fully welcoming. *

We encourage relationships rather than run programs, yet we recognize the importance of intentionality and structure as we nurture life together.

As a community, we seek to put our love in action. We value helping out on Sunday mornings, sharing food, and showing up in hard times. We keep our church life simple so folk have time to build relationships with family, friends, and neighbours. We encourage folk to serve in tangible ways within the wider community. We rent space rather than own a building, allowing us to do more with less, supporting missions at home and abroad.

Curious to know more?

These six slides express what motivates our ministry (best viewed on a monitor). Here’s the bio of our Pastor, Rev. Anne Baxter Smith.

If you’d like to really peek inside, sign up for our weekly Southpoint News (scroll to brown footer at bottom of page). The Southpoint News is a MailChimp distributed email—you can unsubscribe anytime and will not be added to our contacts list. Email us at office@southpoint.ca. Website: southpoint.ca.