I remember when I was younger, (much younger), on Friday evening, mama would open the refrigerator, take out whatever leftovers survived the week, throw them into a pot with beef or chicken broth, and cook them until they were unrecognizable. In those days, you didn’t throw leftovers away.

I never gave a thought to the variety of meats and vegetables that went into that pot because by the time the meal was ready, you were hard pressed to figure what went into the pot. But it was tasty and sure satisfied. My uncle had a name for this quasi soup, enthusiasm.

Please, please, contain your impulse to write me for the recipe. Coming from an Italian background, no one made precise measurements of ingredients like Julia Child. It was always a bowl of this, a pinch of that, a handful of this, and whatever vegetables you could find until the pot was ¾ full. Then consider the number who would be eating and add your broth accordingly.

Now how in God’s creation does this relate to Blake’s Chapel? Consider the members of the church. Many came from various religious backgrounds. I, for one, was raised Catholic, my wife Episcopalian, others Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, etc - etc. Like the Friday night leftovers, we’ve come together and the broth that we "stew in", (pardon the poor analogy), is Blake’s Chapel Advent Christian Church.

The result is a blending of backgrounds and viewpoints which have come together to form a tasteful satisfying group of believers, and certainly one that exudes enthusiasm. We are blended into a group which, while it may maintain some of its original separate identities, exists as a smorgasbord of believers Jesus Christ. as Savior and Redeemer. 

When I first came to Blake’s Chapel, I was curious as to what beliefs constituted the denomination Advent Christian. But as time has passed, I’ve come to realize that labels are not significant. While Pastor Dowd and many members consider themselves Advent Christians, Pastor maintains that we can have differences regarding our beliefs as long as the end result is an enthusiasm for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Sometimes mama added some strange items to our Friday night soup, but it didn’t matter because it all blended and satisfied.

Come visit us at Blake’s Chapel. We promise no culinary mysteries, but there will be a lot of enthusiasm.