Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Saint Teresa de Avila
Retreats, storytelling, adult ed classes, film screenings, protests, vigils, support groups, advocacy, fundraisers… These are among the many meaningful activities going on within our MPC family during the intervening hours and days when we’re not together at Sunday Celebration.
Through these activities, we are the hands, the feet, the eyes and the body of Christ, and we share our gifts, love and compassion with our community and our world.
A significant way we honor this good work and welcome each other to take part is by setting aside time for “Invitations” during our Sunday Celebration.
Ensuring that Invitations have enough time to be creative and engaging, while also leaving ample space for the central elements of the church service and preserving its spiritual flow is a bit of a balancing act. In an effort to strike that balance, church policy in recent years has been to permit a maximum of five one-minute Invitations each Sunday.
Over time, the Session and the Celebration Committee received feedback on this policy from various MPC committees that organize major events and ongoing projects. The “one-time, one-minute” rule didn’t support the many planning stages involved in some of their activities, nor allow time for creativity or fun during these communications. As a result, some folks stopped making invitations and saw their event participation suffer; others abandoned their creative impulses and rushed to cover only the bare bones; and others just bent the rules and ran over one minute.
In response to these experiences, a newly updated Invitations policy has been collaboratively developed and adopted by the Session. The new policy still allows for only 5 minutes of total spoken invitations, but speakers may reserve up to two minutes of that 5-minute total.
It also allows for more than one Invitation about a long-term project or major event, provided that each communication offers fresh information and variety, and the Pastor is consulted ahead of time. It provides guidelines and support for keeping Invitations concise. Click here to read the text of the new policy.
In addition, you may have noticed lately that invitations have been moved to an earlier point in the service, as part of an effort to determine where they work best.
By holding in our hearts the truth that those offering Invitations on Sunday are sharing their callings–their ministries embodying the hands, the feet, the eyes and the body of Christ–we can receive their words with a spirit of joy and gratitude for the abundance of energy and love within the MPC family.
We hope that with these adjustments, Invitations will be welcomed and inspiring, and occupy a harmonious place within the overall service.
Gretchen Garlinghouse, Suzanne Jones and Susanne Lea