The Door Has Opened

Though we have had fewer than 15 services of The Door so far, the fruit that we hoped to see has already begun to appear! Every week new people have come to The Door who were deeply in need of Christ and were cared for by this community. God has given us a glimpse of the kind of work. He wants to use this new ministry for, and this is witnessed in the stories we are hearing from those who have come, especially to the community meal that follows each service. I am excited to see how God is using this new ministry, and all of us, for his Kingdom’s sake!

You may still be asking: What exactly is The Door? The Door is a gift that we as a community are seeking to give to the City of Houston, particularly to those seeking Christ’s light wherever they are in respect to explicit faith. The service consists of music, readings, a testimony, and refl ection on Scripture, followed by a meal.

This ministry really “lives,” however, through the people of St. John the Divine. It is our hope that The Door will become a place where people will be known: both known by us and by Jesus Christ, who has brought us all together by his Spirit. We hope, then, that our whole parish will rely on the community centered around The Door as a place where they can bring their friends, neighbors, family, and acquaintances — anyone who is not yet part of a church family. We hope they will come to learn about Jesus for the very fi rst time, or even to give faith a second chance. This is not merely a “service” that the clergy and staff can do by themselves — not at all! The Door lives as a ministry of this church family, and only insofar as we all participate by bringing people to encounter Jesus together.

I doubt any of us have testimonies that do not include other people in them, and the ministry of The Door involves just that: being the people others need to meet Jesus. Please pray that the Lord will lead those who need The Door to discover it — a discovery which is, of course, only made by being “found,” as we all have been, by Jesus. Such finding always occurs in the midst of those Jesus has already gathered around himself. Being “found,” in saving terms, always means being found amidst, and that is just what this church is for.

So, as you pray for the ministry of The Door, pray too about who God is calling you to invite, not just to a service, but to community with God. What else does reconciliation and salvation look like but blessed togetherness — One Body given and gathered. And thank you, too, for all your prayers these past months as we prepared and launched this service. We have seen the evidence of God’s Spirit at work amidst and among us, and we know that God is already answering our prayers. Thanks be to God!