In the Baptismal Covenant, we promise to "continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers." Right there, in the commitments we make to God and to each other, teaching and fellowship go together. The early Church could never have imagined that we could be formed in faith apart from one another, or that friendship alone, without shared learning and prayer, would make us disciples.
We sometimes treat fellowship as the pleasant extra, the gathering of old friends and new after the “real work” of worship and study. But formation happens at those tables too. We learn patience from the person who disagrees with us about the hymn choices. We learn generosity from the parishioner who checks in on a friend they haven’t seen in a while. We learn hope from the longtime member who has kept faith through decades of change. Christ forms us not in isolation but through the Body.
The reverse is also true: our fellowship and friendship deepens when it is rooted in something larger than shared interests. Studying Scripture together, praying the Daily Office together, asking honest questions together bind us more closely than small talk ever could.
This fall, I invite you to join one of our fellowship groups and attend one of our opportunities for formation. You won’t regret it!
In Christ,
Mtr. Kara