Written by Juanita Reed-Boniface

When the DOOM of COVID arrived in 2020 HAUMC leaders were challenged to initiate ways to keep their “coffee drinking,” “holy donut eating” flock together. They knew that during this “current situation” church members would long for fellowship, community, encouragement and assurance. The question was HOW do we do this when we can’t gather in person? So, in true Methodist fashion, they turned to the quadrilateral . Reading Scripture, reflecting on Tradition, Reasoning together, and thinking about Experiences–two words continued to surface “small groups”. Then the question was what are the tools we have to bring our beloved community together in this way? Was this an opportunity to more fully utilize current technology via Zoom, Facebook, emails? Even when feeling “under the weather” folks might log on to their computers.

This was the setting out of which Closings was born. Initially organized and led by Pastor Frenchye, the group met every evening M-F at 8:00, for a daily sharing of the day’s highlights/challenges, (John Wesley’s How is it with your soul), a short meditation and discussion. The evening closed with prayer. It wasn’t long before Frenchye determined that the group was blessed with a number of lay leaders and perhaps it was time to shift to a lay-led fellowship.

The transition took a little time, but soon several members of the group volunteered to take turns leading the evening gatherings. The basic format for the gatherings has continued, we adjusted our meeting times to three days a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to honor other recurring commitments that individuals have. For the past month we have been reading and discussing the all church read, Life After Doom, by Brian McLaren. This has been a change from our usual pattern in which the leader for the week selects the topic. Each person has favorite authors or events they like to highlight, this means topics vary from Richard Rohr’s meditations, celebrations of events of the church year, i.e., Pentecost, Rural Life Sunday, All Saints Day. Readings from indigenous elders have also been popular and meaningful.

Eight people have been members of the group from the beginning, others have joined from time to time. Over the past five years we have shared joys, sorrows, life challenges, disappointments, but most of all our love of God and steadfast loyalty to each other.

If you are looking for an evening Closure with a dedicated, fun group, come join us. Zoom connections are found on the Hennepin Happenings calendar.