Bread and Blessings

After ten years of gathering as a Laundry Love community, we decided to do something very radical for Episcopalians: We set out a prayer box and little slips of paper with places to write a prayer request, first name (optional), and phone number (very optional). To our surprise, the little box was full. People wrote their names AND their phone numbers! These folks were hungry for connection. 

After a couple of months of collecting prayer requests, praying over them and listening to people who wanted to be contacted, we wondered about starting a little worshipping community. And then wondered for a couple more weeks. 

Then during a Laundry Love gathering, I wrote on a piece of notebook paper that we would be meeting at the local library for a meal, a spiritual story, and some conversation. I set  it on the counter. Nobody saw it. But putting that paper on the counter was really just a commitment to doing it!

We set up a time in a large room at the library with a kitchen. We made flyers and named our little group Bread and Blessings. The first gathering consisted of a simple meal, and people came. One team member walked around the library and invited everyone to join us! We let people know exactly what we were doing and that they were invited to any part of or all of our gathering. We lit a candle (battery operated), told a Jesus story, shared our thoughts, and had a prayer. The whole gathering lasted 90 minutes. 

So far we have met four times (twice a month) and it is beautiful :)