And Who Are You?

Every year (at least every year pre-pandemic) Judy and I threw an Epiphany Open House in early January. It’s a

great way to extend the holiday season and bring a little light to the long, cold, dark month which is January.

Our guest list drew from the various worlds to which we are connected – co-workers, neighbors, friends,

members of our car club. There would be between thirty and forty people who attended in any given year.

They mostly all arrived at the same time and all wound up in the kitchen. It became a bit loud and gloriously

chaotic.

Since people were coming from different parts of our lives and might not know one another, my spouse,

always the good host, tried to introduce co-workers to car club members and neighbors to friends. (Though

through the years, some people had gotten to know guests from the other groups and looked forward to this

once-a-year meeting.) However, in the confusion of the kitchen it was inevitable that at least once Judy would

find herself trying to introduce car club members to car club members or co-workers to co-workers.

We want everyone to know who is at the party.

This fall as we come together for education, fellowship and one worship service, we will want to know who is

at the party. But we may have this deep fear we will welcome as a visitor someone we don’t recognize when

he or she has long been a member who attended “the other service.” Or we may see the face of someone

whose name we feel should know and withdraw in embarrassment as we racked our brains trying to

remember. Or we may see someone we’d like to meet and wish for a little help in making an introduction.

This season of regathering and reconnecting is a great time to resurrect our use of name tags on Sunday

mornings. Old name tags will be recycled and new name tags will be created in time for Rally Day, September

11. We encourage you to wear your name tag when we gather for worship, education, and fellowship.

Further instruction about the new name tags will follow soon. We hope to eliminate the need for the question.

“AND WHO ARE YOU??”

Pastor John Schumacher, BCC