when a church has a brand

Brian Hadley is a member of Providence United Methodist Church, and in reflecting on the Lord's Prayer, he made a connection with the homeless of Charlotte. The result you see before you is a beautiful poster that has captured the imagination of our city, and all to the benefit of Samaritan House.

You can read about Brian in today's "Faith and Values" section of the Charlotte Observer (March 27, 2010), and you can order a poster from him at bhadley1 (at) carolina.rr.com.

I also realized that this project expresses what is happening in our congregation and what we are all about. We offer passionate traditional worship, believing that the resources of our tradition, including the scriptures, the creeds, the hymns and the Lord's prayer, have the power, in and of themselves, to give life. This life is expressed internally through intentional faith development (Brian is in a Bible Study) and externally through risk taking mission (his response to the homeless). And he made the connection in worship, through the Lord's Prayer.

I have been sensing recently that our church has a distinctive brand: passionate traditional worship that fuels risk taking local (homeless) and global (Haiti) mission. We gather in small groups to encourage each other and in worship to glorify God. Brian's ministry has given me a parable of what I have been reflecting on, and I think many congregations are blessed with members who make these same connections.

When I pray the Lord's Prayer tomorrow in worship, I will see these faces. For this I thank God, and Brian Hadley.