What is the Church?

I'm on an Ann Weems kick this week. As I think about how we witness to a new generation of pilgrims, as I imagine what being authentic means, as I dream about celebrating Pentecost in a new congregation, and as I imagine a new future for an established, traditional faith community, I am drawn to yet another of Ann Weem's poems.

The church of Jesus Christ is where a child brings a balloon…
   is where old women come to dance . . .
   is where young men see visions and old men dream dreams.
The church of Jesus Christ is where lepers come to be touched . . .
   is where the blind see and the deaf hear . . .
   is where the lame run and the dying live.
The church of Jesus Christ is where daisies bloom out of barren land . . .
   is where children lead and wise men follow . . .
   is where mountains are moved and walls come tumbling down.
The church of Jesus Christ is where loaves of bread are stacked in the sanctuary to feed the hungry . . .
   is where coats are taken off and put on the backs of the naked . . .
   is where shackles are discarded and kings and shepherds sit down to life together.
The church of Jesus Christ is where barefoot children run giggling in procession . . .
    is where the minister is ministered unto . . .
   is where the anthem is the laughter of the congregation and the offering plates are full of people.
The church of Jesus Christ is where people go when they skin their knees or their hearts . . .
   is where frogs become princes and Cinderella dances beyond midnight . . .
   is where judges don’t judge and each child of God is beautiful and precious.
The church of Jesus Christ is where the sea divides for the exiles . . .
   is where the ark floats and the lamb lies down with the lion . . .
   is where people can disagree and hold hands at the same time.
The church of Jesus Christ is where night is day . . .
   is where trumpets and drums and tambourines declare God’s goodness . . .
   is where lost lambs are found.
The church of Jesus Christ is where people write thank-you notes to God . . .
   is where work is a holiday . . .
   is where seeds are scattered and miracles grown.
The church of Jesus Christ is where home is . . .
   is where heaven is . . .
   is where a picnic is communion and people break bread together on their knees.
The church of Jesus Christ is where we live responsively to God’s coming . . .
   even on Monday morning the world will hear . . .
   an abundance of alleluias! 

                                                                               —Ann Weems


Ann Weems is a Presbyterian elder, a lecturer, and a popular poet. She is the author of Family Faith Stories, Reaching for Rainbows, Searching for Shalom, Kneeling in Bethlehem, Kneeling in Jerusalem, Psalms of Lament, and Putting the Amazing Back in Grace.