Our spirits were filled to overflowing with joy and praise last weekend in worship, fellowship and study at the Springfield Church of Christ in Virginia, where I was privileged to make five presentations on Saturday and Sunday, then field an hour of Q&A discussion on Sunday night. Our topic was spiritual leadership, which included a study of the ministry of women in the New Testament. All the presentations were recorded and will soon be available (with Power Point) at no charge on the church’s website. I will inform you when those are ready.
An unincorporated area of approximately 35,000 population just 10 miles from Washington, D.C., Springfield is nestled in the beautiful wooded rolling hills of Fairfax County, Virginia. The Springfield church is a vibrant, Christ-centered and diverse congregation whose 135 people (most under age 50) speak 10 languages and come from three African nations, two South American countries, Puerto Rico, the Middle East, all over the USA and other parts of the world. Mark and Marnie Moore, former missionaries to Uganda, were my gracious hosts for the weekend, along with Matt and Carolyn Tapie, in whose home I also had a meal. Mark and Matt both preach and do pastoral work for the church. Mark also serves as Director of Policy for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) and Matt is completing a doctorate in spiritual formation at Catholic University of America.
A long-scheduled Capitol prayer breakfast on Monday morning was bumped due to an innocent last-minute scheduling conflict and will be reset during 2009. That opened the morning for us, so host Mark (a fomer Senate advisor and certified historical guide) treated me to a private tour of the United States Capitol. We then met attorney Jack White, a brother in the Springfield church and briefing clerk to Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who gave us an insider tour of the United States Supreme Court. Jack (who had just finished writing an opinion for Justice Alito) observed that I interpret the Bible the same way his boss interprets the Constitution — we both consider historical background and specific textual language to determine original intent, then seek to discern underlying principles to apply to vastly different circumstances today. I thank God for the entire weekend, which blessed and fulfilled me both as a Bible teacher and as an attorney!
