We Ditch Church Once And Make the News!

This weekend we did things a little differently at Ikon Community. Normally we gather every Sunday night at someone’s home for a meal, the Eucharist, some reflection and discussion of scripture, and prayer. But this Sunday was the weekend for the local Stand Up Against Poverty event, organized by ONE San Diego in support of the Millenium Development Goals.

So, we decided to show up there for “church” instead.

The Stand Up event garnered a little coverage in our local paper today (I have no idea how my family ended up in the photo, but that’s me hugging Judah, with Jenell to my left and Savannah to my right), but there’s actually more to this story for Ikon Community. The Stand Up event was held at Grape Day Park in Escondido, which happens to be the epicenter of a rather large homeless population. For the past several months one of the families from Ikon Community – Cory and Crissy Verner and their kids Levi and Luke – have been going to Grape Day Park every Saturday morning to bring food and coffee to the scattered “residents” there. So, we organized a little picnic to take place immediately afterward with our 30 or so Grape Day Park friends. It was a blast. We ate together, talked about life, and wrapped it up with a small group communion celebration. I let the body and blood do the preaching.

More importantly, Cory and Crissy have been developing genuine friendships with the folks at Grape Day Park. It has been awe inspiring for me to see how simple friendship, and the support which naturaly follows, can break the hopelessness associated with poverty. I honestly don’t think Cory and Crissy Verner see the full impact they’re having, but Jenell and I see it and we’re grateful to be part of what they’re doing.