Sitting on the front porch swing and wondering about church

There was early church, i.e., contemporary worship music, this morning since we were saying "Goodbye" to one of our music ministers. After church, there was a visit to the Farmer's Market for a dozen ears of sweet corn. I was at the Abbey yesterday and missed the Saturday Farmer's Market. For me, the Farmer's Market is about supporting local farmers and merchants. It is also about a sustainable economic system that doesn't depend upon fossil fuels transporting goods across the country. As I sat in the front porch swing shucking those ears of corn, I got to wondering how much difference there might be in our community if folks were members of and participated in their local neighborhood churches. Sort of a 'Farmer's market' type of church membership. That's the way it was when I was growing up but that's another blogging story. This neighborhood church would probably be small enough that we would get to know each other. The minister would live in the neighborhood. Children's and youth programs would be neighborhood programs resulting from churches working together rather than competing with each. We wouldn't have to use so much fossil fuel to drive across town for church. All of this came to mind just after noon as I sat on the front porch swing shucking sweet corn. I watched a neighbor and her daughter walking down the sidewalk. They were coming home from the neighborhood Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church. When they got in front of our house, they stopped and talked for a little while. The daughter is four months away from getting her driver's license and so excited. I don't know of a Baptist Church within walking distance in our neighborhood, but there is a Pentecostal and that Disciples church within a couple of blocks. I'm thinking about walking around the corner to that Disciples Church some Sunday.