Before God called me into ministry, I was convinced that I was going to become a teacher. I planned to dedicate my life to teaching French to high school students. I attribute my love of the French language to my grandfather, who taught me words like bienvenue (welcome) and je t’aime (I love you) as a child. He would recount stories (although apocryphal at best) about our family’s ancestral ties to France. Our family crest even bears the words toujours fidele – “always faithful.” It is a phrase that has come to carry even more meaning for me since becoming a minister, just like my grandfather.

Both of us have talked about our hope of visiting Normandy one day. As a history nerd, I have always wanted to see the Bayeux Tapestry in person. It depicts the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066 CE across a 230-foot long band of linen and wool. It is a beloved work of art and a wealth of knowledge about this time in history. It’s fascinating to think that a tapestry woven in fabric also tells the story of two peoples being woven together.

We live in a world that seems to become more frayed and fragmented with each passing day. Being part of a connectional church, then, can seem out of place. We might even say, outdated. A relic from another time. The church of the past may have operated that way, but what benefit do we really get out of it now?

I think I have an answer, or at least a glimpse of one. I see the benefit of the connectional church first-hand every time I attend a presbytery meeting. Yes, you read that right! On many occasions someone has said to me that these church gatherings are like family reunions. We get to reconnect with people in our extended church family that we haven’t seen in a while. They might live in a different part of town or on the other side of the state. Sometimes, those connections can even surprise us.

One of the many joys of my work is getting to travel across the southeast to attend these Presby-family reunions. This spring I traveled to Orlando, Florida, to lead a legacy giving presentation at a Central Florida Presbytery meeting. While I was setting up, I encountered someone I had never met. But when I looked at his nametag, I knew immediately that I had heard that name somewhere before.

As we introduced ourselves, I learned that Dr. Bob Eckard was the former pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian, the church where we were meeting. And then it clicked! My wife Kira was born in Orlando and baptized in this very church. As it turns out, Dr. Eckard was the pastor who baptized Kira. This was the first meeting he had been to since he had retired a few years previously. Of course, we had to take a picture together to send to my wife and her family. I knew our new connection could only be the work of the Holy Spirit.

This is just one example of the blessings we receive through our connectional church. In sanctuaries and fellowship halls, we worship together. We break bread together. We share the joy of celebrating the ordination of a new pastor. We share tears as we bear witness to a congregation whose ministry has come to an end. We may not always agree on everything, but our Presbyterian ties bind us together. Our shared polity, history, and above all our faith are a testament to the tapestry that God has woven through each of us.

And the tapestry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is not finished yet, thanks be to God! Our divine weaver continues to add to our shared story with every new disciple that is baptized, every new worshipping community that is formed, every time two or more are gathered to love and serve the Lord.

I believe with all my heart that the connections we build across churches, presbyteries, and denominations are some of the best ways that God transforms us into stronger servants of Jesus Christ. God is always at work in us to weave our church family together. As the apostle Paul writes:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, NRSV)

You and I are part of a holy tapestry that connects us with the Church across the ages. We can look back at our ancestors in the faith. We can look at the family that is here with us as the body of Christ. And we can look ahead toward the hope-filled future that the next generation of disciples will inherit from us. This tapestry is a testament to God’s faithfulness and the promise of what God will continue to weave through each of us.

Thanks be to God for Presby-family reunions and all the Spirit-led connections that bind us together!