My first Ministers' meeting in Franklin...

I was at the monthly meeting of ministers and lay leaders in Franklin this morning.  We had a fairly large turnout of local pastors and lay ministers who attend the group, but even this is a paltry amount compared to the 52!! churches within a few miles of Franklin.  Who knew there were so many?  How can so many churches hope to cooperate and work together to serve the poor and advance the cause of Christ?
One of the things that this group has decided is that we will move forward with various projects and events in the hopes that our activity will prove to be the catalyst that brings more churches, and their leadership, into the fold of cooperation in Franklin (and Venango County as well).
I have to say that this is exciting stuff, I certainly didn't have so many church neighbors back in Palo, MI.  When we had a town wide church leadership meeting I only needed to call the Methodist minister and that was all of us.  Now, I have 2 Methodist churches, 1 Episcopal, 1 Catholic, and more within the blocks next to my own!  This is an amazing opportunity to serve this town from many different directions with the same Gospel of Jesus Christ, but also a warning to us all that we need to grow OUTSIDE of our normal church circles if all of us are to maintain vibrant churches in the future.
Needless to say, the future here in Franklin holds much promise, much work, and much need of prayer support.  May God continue to bless us for seeking to bridge the gaps that our forefathers created between our churches.  Christ only has one bride, HIS Church.