Part 4: Fellowship

One significant advantage the parish system provides is that it helps the saints in the various reformed congregations to stay in a closer relationship with one another than might be the case if they were totally distinct from one another. For example, if someone in the Brown parish is sick and needs meals, everyone in the parish chips in and helps supply the need regardless of the particular congregation he is a part of. This intercongregational connectedness helps the saints in the various congregations to realize that being in Christ is not a “church” thing, but a Christian thing. Each individual is a part of the body of Christ, and the parish system helps to remind us of that.

In some parts of the country in the 1950’s, neighborhood parties were popular. Everyone on the block would bring whatever they wanted, and a big pot-luck would ensue. Now society has become very individualistic, and folks tend not to know their neighbors very well. The parish system goes beyond this and allows the parish members to have parties that are essentially neighborhood parties. These parish parties encourage the members of the church to get to know one another and to become a part of one another’s lives. These relationships bind everyone together in closer friendships and as these relationships grow the saints are knit together in ever growing communion.

In another vein, this kind of Christian life is the kind of life that does the best job of evangelism. Parish members’ inviting their non-Christian neighbors is a very natural and effective evangelistic tool.

The parish system makes having group Bible study a joy because the group is not so large that the individuals cannot be personally involved. The smaller size of parish study allows individuals to see each other more regularly and to interact in one another’s lives in a way that they cannot in the larger church setting.

Fellowship means much more than just “hanging out” and chatting after church. The Apostle Paul said that the Philippian church had fellowshipped with him when they sent him aid while he was in prison (Phil. 1:5ff). The parish system helps members support one another in a way that the whole church, as large as it is, may not be able to do as effectively or with as much personal compassion.