Last night, at the bi-weekly Discussion on the Deck, which was mercifully moved inside due to the heat, the topic was heaven and hell. There were about 12-14 people present. I am fascinated by the variety of opinions. We were a pretty homogeneous group, all middle class, Midwesterners, all belonged to the same ELCA Lutheran church, all white, yet our thoughts on heaven and hell were different enough to keep us talking for a couple of hours.

Of course, we went off on a few tangents. People shared personal experiences, people listened, people encouraged each other and we laughed together. All in all, it was a good night. And it is exactly what will strengthen the faith community of First Lutheran. The topic was almost irrelevant.

I believe that worship is necessary, prayer essential and the churches that get their members interacting in small groups for whatever purpose--discussions, cooking, service projects, craft, study, softball etc., will find that those members will see their church as an integral part of their life--not just a Sunday morning obligation. It is the relationships.