Greetings APUMC family,

I walked into Bible study on Monday morning thinking I was there to teach.

I left realizing I had been taught.

That's one of the many gifts of our Women's Monday Morning Bible Study. We come together expecting to open Scripture, have a good conversation, maybe laugh a little, and learn something about God. But again and again, I am reminded that learning happens in more ways than we expect. We learn from Scripture, of course, but we also learn from one another. We learn from each other's stories, questions, experiences, wisdom, and even the things we see differently. Sometimes we arrive thinking we have something to teach, only to discover that God has placed someone around the table who has something to teach us.

That is the beauty of Christian community: we don't simply gather to learn from a teacher; we gather to learn from one another.

Valencia is one of the most grace-filled, humble, and genuinely loving teachers I have ever learned from, so it was a true gift to serve alongside her this week as we continued our study of Taming the Tongue. Our topic for Monday was “The Rude Tongue,” but as often happens when we gather around the table, the conversation became about more than just the lesson in our workbooks. We began to see, in real time, how much we learn from one another…how God uses each person's story, perspective, wisdom, and experience to teach us something about who God is and who we are called to be.

And somewhere in that conversation, I realized we weren't just studying what it means to be the Church.

We were experiencing it.

You see, that morning, our circle grew a little wider.

Mary Lou Ladd had invited her Uber driver, Jasmine, to join us for Bible study. Jasmine came, and she brought her friend, Katelyn, with her.

What happened next was such a beautiful picture of what it means to make room for one another. Our circle grew a little wider, and the women of our Bible study welcomed these two young women as though they had always been part of the conversation.

They listened to them. They invited them to share. They made sure they had a voice at the table.

At one point, one of the young women was speaking without a microphone. Someone paused her, handed her the microphone, and with that simple action seemed to say: “Your voice matters, too.”

I found myself marveling at what was happening around those tables.

Different experiences.

Different stories.

And somehow, all of those experiences came together in a way that pointed us toward Jesus.

At one point, Jasmine apologized for “talking so much.”

Her reason?

“I just love talking about Jesus.”

And I smiled because, really, isn't that the kind of conversation we hope to create in the Church?

A conversation where people feel free to talk about Jesus.

A place where people feel heard.

A community where no one has to wonder whether there is room for them at the table.

Katelyn shared with me afterward how grateful she was to have been invited. She told me that she didn't know a community like this existed for them.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about that.

Friends, this is what it means to be the Church.

It means making room.

It means noticing the person who hasn't spoken yet and making sure they have a chance to speak.

It means handing someone the microphone and, with our actions, saying, “Your voice matters, too.”

It means being willing to receive as well as to give.

It means recognizing that sometimes the person we thought we were here to teach has something to teach us.

And perhaps most beautifully, it means creating a space where people can encounter Jesus simply by the way we are with one another.

Monday morning, I watched our community do what the Church is called to do.

We teach one another.

We serve one another.

We encourage one another.

We make room for one another.

We listen to one another.

And sometimes, without even realizing it, we become the way someone else experiences the welcome of Jesus.

We'll continue exploring what this means together this Sunday as we celebrate Children's Sunday and present Bibles to our third graders.

We'll talk about what happens when we spend time with Jesus, and how, something of that time begins to show.

Because what we carry with us tells the story of where we've been.

That's true of a candy wrapper in a child's pocket.

And it's true of a life spent with Jesus.

So perhaps one of the most significant questions we can ask ourselves as a church is this:

Can people tell we've been with Jesus?

I hope so.

I hope that when people walk through our doors—children, teenagers, young adults, parents, grandparents, longtime members, first-time guests, and even an Uber driver invited to Bible study—they find a community where the door is open, where there is room at the table, and where they can encounter the love of Jesus through us.

That is what I witnessed on Monday morning.

Someone made an invitation.

Someone made room.

Someone brought a friend.

Someone found her voice.

Someone listened.

Someone was welcomed.

Someone was willing to learn.

And in the middle of it all, there was Jesus.

May that be who we are.

And may people be able to tell:

We've been with Jesus.

I cannot wait to continue the conversation with you Sunday. See you soon!

Grace and peace,

Jennifer