By Sarah Hollier
My sweet, nerdy sixth-grader came home one day and reported an incident in the lunch-room. I braced myself for the worst, but by the end of his tale, my heart was overflowing with relief, pride and love.
Daniel and his best friend, Ian, were sitting at a table with several other boys when a boy from their small math group came up with his lunch tray, looking for a seat. Before he could even say anything, an assertive, more popular boy said, “This table is already full.”
My son matter-of-factly related the scene: “Well, I looked at Ian and Ian looked at me, and we both moved our chairs a little bit and then grabbed another chair from a nearby table and I said, “There's always room for one more.” And they made room for the initially rejected boy.
I asked if the boy who said the table was full had said anything after that. “Nope, we just all started eating again and the three of us talked about math.”
Pilgrim UCC is a place where there is always room for one more, and that is one of the aspects that I most value about this community. It doesn't matter what you look like, how much money you make, or give, to Pilgrim. It doesn't matter if you have no church background or have been going to church for years. It doesn't matter if you don't know if you even believe in God or not. Everyone, EVERYONE is welcome here. Jesus did not discriminate against anyone, and neither do we, and that is the kind of community I want to be a part of and am willing to support.
Please join me in supporting Pilgrim's work in becoming a Crowded Table by pledging your gift for the coming year. Together, we can build a community where not only are we all welcome, but we all thrive.