God's Work. Our Feet.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." (Isaiah 52:7)

My denominational tribe, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) came up with a tag line a few years ago that I assume came out of the missional church conversation: God’s Work. Our Hands.  As a church, we recognize that we don't have a mission, but rather, we’re called to participate in God’s mission of reconciliation, repair, and restoration of the world and those in it.

Now, whether they know it or not, runners provide a lot of charitable dollars and awareness for many great causes that help a lot of people. Runners raise funds for clean water, cancer research, foster care, brain injury support…the list goes on and on. Even if they’re not intentionally running for charity, many of the races that they run in support charitable causes.

One of the great people at Holy Cross is a lovely young lady by the name of Allison. Allison was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis at the age of five. You can read her story here. A few years ago, Allison set up a 5k race to raise money to help support the Kansas City chapter of the Myasthenia Gravis Association and those affected by this auto-immune disease.

I thought that it would be a lot of fun to not only get the experienced runners in our congregation to participate in this race, but to welcome and introduce a whole new group of people to running and its many benefits.  So, this year we’re going to use the season of Lent to kick-off a 12-week training program that will provide instruction, support, encouragement, motivation and community. We’re going to meet every Sunday at 11:30 for a brief talk about shoes, technology, snot rockets, proper stretching, etc. We’ll also work into the program some thoughts about running and the spiritual life. In the process, we’re going to use our feet to participate in God’s mission of healing and hope.

We’re having an informational meeting this Sunday, Feb. 15 at 11:30 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. In the weeks to come, I plan to use this blog to share insights, tips from our coaches, and updates on how things are going.