Just in case you haven’t heard already, we’re getting ready to prepare a new pictorial directory for the Calvary Baptist church family. Individuals and families in our congregation will have the opportunity to sign-up (either at the church or on-line) for a portrait session between the dates of July 10 and July 31, and the photographer will be on-site August 12 to August 15—and again on September 13—to get the pictures taken. In addition, we’ll be making arrangements to visit with church members who are shut-in so that we can take good, up-to-date photos of them, too. But these visits will need to be limited in number, so we’re hoping that the vast majority of our congregation will help us by showing up in person.

Now I’ll confess: I have no idea what you feel when you receive this information. For some, it might seem like very good news. Perhaps it’s been awhile since you got the family together for a nice photograph. So you’re already figuring out what everyone should wear. For others, the thought of sitting for another directory photo makes your skin crawl. Perhaps you’ve never felt like you’re very photogenic, and this will be just another appointment to add to your already busy schedule. Besides, you don’t like the idea of some pushy representative trying to sell you pictures. For still others, the whole idea may do little more than inspire a resounding yawn of disinterest.

But whatever your initial reactions might be, I really do hope (in fact, I humbly beg) that you’ll participate. As a still-fairly-new arrival at Calvary Baptist, I can testify what a valuable thing it is to have an up-to-date directory that assists in the process of linking faces with names. Some of you have commented that you’re impressed I’ve been able to remember so many new people so quickly. But make no mistake: that would have been impossible without our existing church directory, which is at least 5 years old. Had it been more recent, I’d probably know even more of you – even better than I do.

But in addition to its value as a ‘memory aid’ for faces and addresses and phone numbers, I hope you’ll participate because a new directory can be (and hopefully will be) a testimony to the fact that we are one, united body of Christ. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you (emphasis added) is a part of it” (12:27). We are in this thing together. And if any part of our body is missing, our body as a whole is diminished.

I believe that God has great things in store for this body that we call Calvary Baptist Church. And I look forward to getting to know each of you better as “the whole body—joined and held together by every supporting ligament—grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph. 4:16).

Now that’s a picture worth a thousand words.