Besides These Four Walls

I recently subscribed to Discovery+ on a whim and primarily to watch the new shows being produced by Magnolia Network and Chip and Joanna Gaines. I love their show Fixer Upper and cook regularly from Joanna's two cookbooks. When I heard Joanna was going to have her own cooking show, it was a must-watch for me!

The shows have not disappointed. I have loved everything I have watched on the new network. The new series are heart-warming from watching flower gardening with Growing Floret to following Johnnyswim on Home On The Road. I have really enjoyed the series The Lost Kitchen which follows restaurant owner Erin French and her struggle to keep her restaurant in business in Maine during the pandemic.

Her farm-to-table restaurant was highly successful prior to COVID-19 and one booked a table months in advance through a postcard lottery. Yes, you mailed a postcard to Freedom, Maine and if your card was chosen, The Lost Kitchen would call you to reserve a table during their open months, May to September.

Here is a picture of the restaurant in 2019:

And then there was COVID-19. And The Lost Kitchen closed. Erin had to dream of new ways to keep local farms and her staff employed.

So she pivoted and changed her model.

Here is a picture of the restaurant in the summer of 2020:

The Lost Kitchen pivoted to serve outdoor meals as well as a host an online market that sold local food goods to local residents.

Erin's pivoting reminds me of the changes we have had to embrace in the local church. We cannot worship inside a packed sanctuary. Instead we are worshipping online and in our car. Events are now drive-through. Over the last year we have had to remember a message we have actually proclaimed for many years: the church is not a building! We may have know that, but we didn't have to fully embrace it. We could rely on the comfort of our buildings for worship and events. Now we have no choice but to move ministry beyond the building.

A few lines from Erin at the end of episode 2 struck me and is the whole reason for this post:

"I just naturally want to feed people. And I just naturally want to take care of people. And not just nourish them, but nourish their souls. And whatever it is, whether it's sending them home with a box full of beautiful ingredients or having these long leisurely beautiful lunches sitting by the mill pond. There are more ways to do that to make people feel that feeling and to feed them well. I think this is just pushing me to find so many other ways to do that besides these four walls."

I love that Erin wants to nourish people's bodies and souls. Isn't that what we do in the church? And we have had to be creative, just like Erin, in finding new ways to do that beyond four walls. The church's mission has not changed. We are still a welcoming community sharing God's love with others: it just means kids Sunday school on Zoom and Ash Wednesday ashes delivered to homes. The church has most definitely left the building...and on most days, I am thoroughly enjoying it!