Today was an excellent day! We were blessed to celebrate Mother's Day with family and friends. During our worship experience, there were three presentations: 1. For the Oldest mother present; 2. For the mother with the most children present in worship; 3. For the newest mother. We presented a rose to every mother present during our church school presentation, which was packed. During worship, were blessed to have a mother present who is 100 years old ( and still wearing her stylish high heels I might add). When the appeal was made for the newest mother, a 20 year old young woman came down. She is the proud mother of 4 month old twins. Earlier in service, she was crying and had to be consoled by one of her loved ones present. The floral arrangement cheered her a bit! She smiled! Following the service, one member took exception that a single, unwed mother was given flowers. It was my turn to smile when she made this point to me. I was happy to have her in church...which she is not a member but has been attending on a regular basis. One of my young adults who grew up in the church once stated that she felt like an outcast when she brought her child to church...as a single, unwed mother. I am proud to say that she works in the church now, and is engaged to be married to a young man who loves her and her son! I have asked her to offer comfort to the young 20 year old, and let her know that she is welcomed within our fellowship. My church is in an urban, very urban area! To single out the unwed mothers would single out over one third of the church, if not more. I just reminded the (concerned) member that at least she was in church. Now we are presented an opportunity to minister to her and others similar to her. I was blessed to see her in worship. I can not send her away, and her children are not mistakes! Fortunately, there were others who thought it encouraging to embrace this young family, and offer guidance. As a result, she plans on joining and having her children baptized! Imagine, if I had been heartless and singled her out for ridicule...now that is cold blooded! Praise God...I am not!

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2003

Answers

Brother Allen,

It appears to that you handled this situation with love. I was just thinking last night about how mean church folk can be at times. Quite frankly, the judgemental behaviour that church folk have is not tenable by any scripture in the Bible. According to John 3:17, God sent His son Jesus in the world not to condem it but to save it. Now if the Sinless one did not come to judge us then where do church folk get off on judging people.

Jazzman

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2003

You did handle that situation well. However, I would suggest that the next time you encounter a member like that, point out examples in scripture of how Jesus supported those who were being judged by the masses (i.e. the woman caught in adultery). Also let him or her know that Jesus was the voice for the disenfranchised, and it is not like "Jesus" to turn our backs on anyone. In our "Christian" walk, I believe many of us totally miss the point and sometimes we need to be reminded of that. Thanks and God bless!

-- Anonymous, May 14, 2003