Three Years Ago, Pr. John Sent Me an Email...

​By Chris Frost, Church Council Member

…about “something potentially cool and interesting that I'm developing at Christ the King…”. Well color me intrigued. 

But, first, a little back story. 

I’ve been attending Christ the King for over 20 years. I’d heard stories about how the founders would pound the pavement and knock on doors to say “hello” and let people know that there was a new church in the community, a new entity in New Brighton. I’d attended the block parties but never really felt a sense of the community - be that church (outside of the people I knew) or New Brighton as a whole. I’d also never really known my “place” in church either. 

Until Pastor John sent that email. About a bread oven. And took us to United Methodist Church in White Bear Lake where I saw a guy walk in from their oven, having just baked 80+ loaves for the congregation and their larger community, apron covered in flour, with the world’s biggest smile on his face. And I thought “I want to be that guy…”

On December 20, 2019 we lit the brand new oven for the first time with the goal of “giving it a go”, managed to over- and under-cook bread at the same time, and saw the possibilities - how we could bring people together around the oven, and both forge and enhance a sense of community using the oven as a coming-together point. 

Then came a global pandemic. Kind of puts a wrench in the works. 

Fast forward to August 25, 2020. We can do this. We can get the church to gather (in a safe, socially distanced manner, but gather nonetheless) around the fruits of our labors. We can be a community again. We did, and wow how good did that feel to look out at everybody again! So we did it again on September 16, 2020. And then on October 28th. And we just did it again last Wednesday... 

To me, this is the community in church I have been searching for all these years - a place for me to volunteer and show my place in our community. And to see our larger community. 

Now I’m wondering now how we can make this a bigger thing? Invite a larger swath of the community outside of church to participate, to join us in what we have made and what we can do. 

And maybe one day we’ll get the hang of the bread baking. 
​
John 6:35: “Jesus said to them ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst.”