Seven years ago I found myself very suddenly and unexpectedly living in a small Scottish village and in the throws of culture shock.
One Saturday in our new home, we realised that our driveway (we live in a crescent of tiny ex council houses) was the only one with a slope big enough for the children in the neighbourhood to use as a ramp for their boards and scooters - we would lie in bed and giggle at the sound of children chattering and playing in our garden.
After a few such Saturdays in bed, we started to talk about where the parents would be and whether like us they liked to take it easy at the weekend and come round kind of slowly - we had moved from Canada where brunch was normal on Saturdays and most of the day was spent hanging out, being social, eating a bit and getting some jobs done - the seed of that idea grew when we realised that our neighbours liked to do the same thing and even more liked the idea of sharing resources and doing that together.
Our house is small, but we are very fortunate in that we have an extension out the back which is a bigger dining room/kitchen than others in the area - all our back yards are joined together which means you don't have to get dressed to go next door, so backyard brunch was born!
We are a gathering of all ages (4 months to 89 years old) - there are more than 40 of us! We meet around brunch (always the local butcher's sausages, Canadian pancakes, maple syrup and coffee) get into the weekend papers and simply share our lives together - my family just hosts and welcomes, we are very flexible, people come and go as swimming lessons and Saturday events occur - we have even invented a new sport called 'over the fence', which involves a kind of tennis/football frenzy using our joint back fences as court edges.
Out of that simple gathering, especially out of the life events that all humans share and the inevitable spiritual questions of identity, meaning and purpose that they throw up, we have begun to engage in dialogue about faith and the difference that following in the way of Jesus can make - we have begun to mark special life events (we have had neighbours die, be born, marry, divorce) in a way that is spiritually meaningful to the people involved - we have begun to mark the passage of time and the seasons of the year with special brunches and sometimes evening parties etc - reading the weekend papers sure throws up a lot of meaty issues to chew over!
We are not a group - we are a company of travelling vagabonds, moving towards God in the best way we know - there is no obvious structure yet to our gatherings other than how people normally go about being social and sharing food together - our neighbours are from very diverse backgrounds and experiences - they have no interest in formal, organised, exclusive and what they perceive as oppressive 'religion' - but they find Jesus hugely attractive and are inspired by his teachings and his humanity.
I am not sure where we will end up, but i am hopeful that, just as in the past God has formed groups of our neighbours into new, Christian, worshipping and mission congregations, God will do so again among these people who are our newest friends and family - the relational significance of our meeting together spills over into the rest of the week now and into the important and trivial everyday occurrences of life - I really love these people.
When we get to springtime this year round, we will be celebrating using some old Celtic Christian rituals suggested by our eldest member - I am excited at the sense of agreement and anticipation in the group of the importance of referring to God in these times of seasonal change and transition - God is so much present with us in the simple, everyday moments - I look forward to backyard brunch more as each one goes by, always knowing that it brings us one step further towards the one in whom we live and breathe and have our being.
