SRC's Other Congregation

How many people would call me their pastor? If you attend SRC on the average Sunday you'll find about thirty people who would, but that is only part of the story.

Yesterday I had a chance to meet a new public safety officer at AACC. You might not think it's a big deal, but I think every chance I have to meet them is fantastic. I always try to stop what I'm doing and introduce myself, and learn their name. I think that if they are always on call to provide safety and stop what they're doing to come unlock the building for us and lock up behind us, then they deserve the respect that I can show them.

I met someone new yesterday, so I stopped the cart I was pushing and introduced myself and that Severn River Church met on campus and had for two years. He replied that he knew who we were, because he'd been working at the school for three years, but had never had this post. (I found that interesting. He knew who we were.)

Our introductory comments lasted maybe thirty seconds.

Then after service he commented on how quickly we cleaned up. I told him that we had two years of practice so we've gotten pretty good at it (BTW, way to go everyone. Thanks for the ministry you give every week with setup/tear down.) He, Rob and I had a short conversation about what kind of church we are and other questions about the church. This officer shared that others in the department had discussed our church from time to time, and wondered about what kind of church we were. (Honestly, I think there are people that attend every week that wonder the same thing ;-))

I directed him to the website to get more information. In fact, he may be reading and if so I'm glad to have made the friendship. AACC is blessed with a great Public Safety department, all of the officers I've worked with have been courteous and helpful.

But it made me remember that there are people that our church affects that we don't always think about, and may not see on Sundays. Our mission is not just to the people there, but to the community that God has placed us in. Identifying God to our people, and our other congregation.

--Ben