I know you have been keeping the Lawley family in your prayers. I have been connecting with Gordon on a regular basis, we discuss the profound grief he and his family are feeling since Ross died on Easter Sunday. Here is Ross’ obituary which includes an opportunity to leave words for the family. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/halifax-ns/ross-lawley-11755356 I have been following these kind offerings from friends. I am also attaching the bulletin for the funeral service, held at Bethany this Sunday at 2 pm. If you are not able to be with us in person, here is the livestream link:
We are also cancelling Coffee Hour for Sunday April 28th as we will need to prepare the Fellowship Hall for the arrival of Lawley family members at 12:30 pm. Given the long-standing relationship between the Lawley family and the Coffee Hour ministry at Bethany we know the congregation will understand and support this decision. The ministry of hospitality, how it is offered following a worship service, is one of Bethany’s great strengths, due in no small part to the legacy of Gordon and the late Mary Lawley. I remember conversations with Ross about his sense of inheritance when his mother died. “My mother’s Christian faith was a constant source of guidance to us. We saw it lived out in our midst.”
Hospitality is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated gifts of the Christian faith/church. As an ordained minister for 34 years, I have seen some in the church offer personal, genuine, heart-felt connection, a sense of belonging, to newcomers. It is truly a gift, and as Christians we know this offering comes from Christ’s guidance and example (Luke 14). But like Luke 14 (which I quote at every wedding) that hospitality is most in line with Christ’s example when it is offered to strangers, persons who come from backgrounds not necessarily like ours. Persons who offer this unique hospitality, like Glen and Carol, Tina and Pierre (two couples who embody this gift, inspirations to me) go deeper than the bonds of the familiar. Jesus tells the host in Luke 14 to fill the empty seats at the banquet with those from the street, people not often invited out.
Keeping in balance, the “ties than bind” and “looking for those not often invited to any table”, are the signs of the deepest form of Christian hospitality. Sitting at the table with you