Stone Soup

Dear Church,

Autumn is here. The summer was full and busy, and seems, as it always does to me, to have been too short. But with the fall season comes a return to regularly-scheduled programming, routines, and the indoor season filled with cozy gatherings. As for my household, this turn of the seasons brings one of Scotty’s favorite times of year: soup season. Noodle soups, veggie soups, bisques, stews, chowders and chilis and more. There’s something so satisfying and wholesome about sitting down for dinner with a hunk of good crusty bread and a delicious warm soup (Scotty has also called this “medieval peasant dinner”). Last year I made a butternut squash soup from scratch that is one of the best dishes I’ve ever made, and I can’t wait to repeat it this year!

One of my favorite folk tales is the story of “stone soup.” You may have heard this story: travelers stop in a small village to ask for some food after a long journey. The villager they meet doesn’t have anything but a rock, so they begin to boil it in a pot. One by one, more villagers walk by and offer whatever they have to the pot. A potato, a couple of leeks, some carrots, a handful of herbs. Over time, the pot begins to smell delicious, and the whole village gathers to share a meal together (after taking the stone out of the pot, of course!) Together, the community creates something that can nourish them all, and the soup is greater than the sum of its ingredients.

Sometimes in church it can feel like we are being asked to make soup out of a stone. We don’t have all the ingredients that we’d like (time, volunteer power, money, creativity, people to fill the pews, etc.) but we have one thing and so we start there. We hope more people will come along, see what we’re trying to do, and want to be a part of it, contributing something to the pot. In the history of our church there are many examples of moments when the congregation was able to make a greater impact together than any one person could make alone. It can easily sound like a platitude, but trust me, church, it’s true: we are better together.

In this congregation, we are blessed to have much more than a stone to add to our collective pot. But knowing that is one thing, and doing something about it is another. So, dear ones, what can you offer? As our stewardship season comes up in October, remember the parable of stone soup: when we all contribute something, our impact can far exceed what one of us could do on our own.

At SFBC, we are beneficiaries of the gifts from people who are now in the great cloud of witnesses. Long ago, a few folks started a house church and 158 years later, here we are. When we give of ourselves, in whatever way that makes sense to us, what feels like stone soup today can nourish this community for decades, even centuries, to come.

I love you and I love being your pastor.

Rev. Anita