Nearly every Sunday from spring through the fall, the front of the order of worship at FAB has a “title” for our worship together. It says, “The ______ Sunday after Pentecost.” It is an important reminder each week. We, the church, are living into the Pentecost story, Sunday by Sunday. From spring to fall, we focus on Jesus’ teachings and ministry. Teresa of Avila once wrote, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world…”

Teresa’s words became our liturgical calling “…after Pentecost.” Just before Pentecost, Jesus commissions his disciples at his ascension as “my witnesses.” Jesus gives the calling, and then the Holy Spirit provides the charge.

I am a witness. This is how I understand my calling. I work hard to pay attention because attention is the currency of a witness. Without it, a witness has nothing.

This week I witnessed tremendous energy at Camp Ona in the teenagers connected to our church. One guest teen said, “I’ll see you at church!” One longer-tenured teen said, “Best FAB Camp ever!!” I witnessed dozens of adults take off work and give of their weekend to the teens’ camp. That’s rare. I witnessed that.

This week, I witnessed “a sound like the rush of a violent wind” that “filled the entire Camp Ona lodge…” when I announced Mycah Pemberton would be continuing her ministry with FAB beyond her interim contract. She’s our new Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries. That lodge shook a little.

You know who else I witnessed at youth camp? Rachael Gibson, Alex Lee, and Kyle Hughes. That’s the Associate Minister to Children, the Director of Music Ministries, and even the Church Office Administrator. Wow. I witnessed that.

Debbie and Gus Drum’s grandson, Gunner Knopf, wanted me to baptize him at FAB Sunday. I preached at Camp Ona. I witnessed Gunner make his public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. “Buried and resurrected.” Dripping wet. Grinning from ear to ear. I witnessed that.

This week, I witnessed things. If I were to try to put it all together under one “title,” I might call it something like “Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.” There was “a sound like the rush of a violent wind” that “filled the house where they were sitting” in both Ona and Huntington. There were “divided tongues as of fire” all over all y’all, all over Cabell County.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. “All of them filled with the Holy Spirit…” I witnessed it.

~ Rev. Zach Bay