Some years ago. I bumped into a woman who had been attending our Sunday morning worship for over a year. She’d been active in adult education, and I’d been touched when she brought me a small vase at my family’s Christmas open house. I considered her part of the church family.

On the day I bumped into her, though, it had been several weeks since we’d seen her.

“Hey,” I said, “We’ve missed you at church.”

“Oh,” she replied. “I don’t go to your church anymore.”

Pause for my stunned silence. [Read more…]