In any organization, to work toward unity, we must: Look for chances to ask the quieter ones to speak; find ways to ask the more talkative ones to leave open spaces. I am amazed at the long list of Christians Paul commends to the roman church in chapter 16. He lists 20 or 30 of them to the romans and outlines what each of them has done. Every church must ask itself: How open are we to other Christians? Will we always make a place for others to come and be a part of our fellowship? On what basis will we discriminate against others who come in? What subtle ways do we shut others out? ((the peas at Oran)) Also to work for unity, we must create openings to serve that continue to invite others. Not everyone has to become the chairperson of a committee. Most just want a place to offer their gifts and be valued in doing so. How open is our church to the newcomer, to inviting them, to finding out who they are and what their life experience is? No longer have the mindset the pastor’s job alone is to do this. In today’s church and in the NT church, it is everyone’s job to include the newcomer, no matter what. It means letting down our guard and stop acting like we own the church. God owns the church and we are simply allowed to be a part of it: pastors, teachers, healers, givers, teachers, prophets, all. Back to Charlie. We arrived in Boston after a very interesting ride. Charlie’s foot odor became somewhat diffused and we got used to it. We were able to engage in mutual stories, conversations, some Christian some not. It was good for our group to be exposed to someone like Charlie. When we arrived at the mission house, we saw immediately some of the mission work needed; painting, fixing up, etc. but we were all amazed to learn that this was not their priority, it was going out to the homes, and working in the clothing pantry for the needy. Charlie threw himself into it; the trains to get around, the work to be done in homes, the interactions with the city folks who had nothing. He did mission with us. More than anyone else in our group, Charlie could relate to the city folks; he was from Boston! Page 5