Friday morning

In a little while I'll be heading out to Breakfast Venues -- perhaps my favorite hour of the week!
Breakfast Venues is a weekly service of our church to provide breakfast for 100 to 150 of our homeless friends in north Springfield.
I am always encouraged by The Venues people that show up to serve each week. Most of them take an hour off from work or make arrangements to go in late so that they can serve the community. Hot scrambled eggs and a mix of sausage and potatoes are provided by a local restaurant. Some type of grain (muffins, pumpkin bread, coffee cake, honey buns, etc.), a fruit (usually bananas or oranges), and milk are provided by members of The Venues. Someone also provides the paper plates, napkins, cups, and plastic forks. And we are there to share God's love and provisions.
It is a grand way to start the day!

Also in the running for my favorite hour of the week is Thursday evening's Downtown Venues -- Bar Church. Our midweek gathering is held at Ernie Bigg's Piano Bar in downtown Springfield ... and it is growing. Last night was packed for our guest speaker Micki Pulleyking, PhD, MDiv, Professor of Religious Studies at MSU, and Pastor at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Springfield.
Last night's message was on the life of JC (the other JC -- Johnny Cash) and how his Christianity relates to our own journey of following Jesus. The pre-message music was provided by Doctor Micki's daughter, Quinlan Pulleyking. Quinlan also serves as worship leader at Emmaus Church, here is Springfield.

As a bonus, I reconnected with a former student of Dr. Micki's afterwards. She had interviewed me
for a class paper 10 years ago and now serves as Program Director, Mission Ministries at Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City area.

Gotta go be a venue for God's love.
Have a grand day!

John <><