EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on May 17, 2024.
By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks
Can you find faith in an order of street tacos, or a barbecue brisket sammich? … I’m not sure.
But what I can tell you, is that you can see a whole lot of fellowship happening in a crowd of hungry people waiting around for a food truck to finish up their orders!
As part of our church’s mission to reimagine what being church in our community is, we’ve been strategizing what we can do to help bring people together in our small, rural town that doesn’t have a common meeting place. No cafe. No grocery store. … Not even a bar where neighbors can crack a cold one and shake some dice.
Layer on that everyone is busier these days. More hours at work, the commuting to and from, kids activities. The list of obligations is endless.
So who has time to get out of the house to do something with the neighbor, right? We convince ourselves that no one does.
But, now tacos and slathered ribs! … There’s something we all got time for! I mean, everyone’s gotta eat!
In other words: Order the food truck, and watch ‘em come runnin’!
Our church’s “Faith Forward” committee has hosted a food truck every Tuesday for the past four weeks in an effort to bring folks out of their homes, maybe give them a break from making dinner and hope that in the process we build some community while people are milling about while their food is cooked.
And, you know what? … Something divine is taking place.
Neighbors who may never visit us in church are faithfully coming out to the food trucks each week. Folks who may not see others in the community for weeks on end, are now finding themselves catching up weekly. Kids who haven’t previously met are playing lawn games while waiting for their parents. And new friends are even driving sometimes 20 miles or more to grab a bite to eat and check out this special thing taking place.
So, after a month of food trucks, what’s the tangible results for our church? … Truthfully speaking, I’m not sure. Does it mean more butts in the seats? More offering in the coffers? That wasn’t the goal.
What I can say, though, is that our neighbors are seeing us be serious about mission outside our four walls and about redefining who our neighbors are. And even if all this effort produces is more fellowship among neighbors who are craving it in a small town without amenities … well then, that’s all the return our church feels it needs.
We’re not serving communion, nor singing hymns or reciting prayers out there at the food trucks, but I am absolutely certain that I’m seeing the Holy Spirit present anyways. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and serves Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.
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