Yesterday I looked at the obituaries to find the one for Jean Gibson, mother of Mark Gibson of our congregation. After reading Jean’s obituary, I started to read the others near hers. Before I knew it, I had read all of the obituaries on the page. In one obituary, we are told: “Her calling in life was Church volunteering.” This woman was also involved in other volunteer work, and enjoyed traveling and playing bridge. But as a pastor, I loved that line about her calling as a church volunteer!
As I continued to read the obituaries on the page, two others caught my eye. Each was for a person who died in the hospital. And each contained the sentence, “There are no known survivors.” That was all that was in the obituary. I thought about those two people. No family? No friends? No one involved in their affairs? How sad. Now if they had been involved in the church, if they had been church volunteers, there probably would have been more to their obituary. They would have been part of a community of caring people. They would have had someone assisting with their affairs, maybe someone who knew about their family and history. If they were part of a church community, there would have been someone preparing an obituary for them.
I don’t blame these solitary souls for not being part of the church. I don’t know their circumstances or experiences. But I am wondering how the church can reach out to those who are alone, who are in need of caring relationships, and who could benefit from the church community. Any volunteers?
Lakewood United Church of Christ 