So the CoCo meeting is over… sigh. It is so much easier to get things done when the people you rely upon to do them are all in one place. After they left yesterday, I went to a friend’s house to watch part of the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Seattle didn’t win, and that’s all I have to say about that. But on a side note, the Rolling Stones are looking pretty old to be gyrating up on stage. Bless their hearts, I said at one point during the halftime show that it sounded like someone singing a bad karaoke version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.” But who am I to judge? After all, at 25 I can’t move my hips like Mick Jagger did last night.

Among other actions taken this weekend, CoCo commissioned a task force to study the possibility of developing a new worship resource for college women. Students reported that it is extremely difficult to create a worship that is inclusive and engaging with the resources available. CoCo’s vision for the project included inclusive-language songs, prayers and liturgies, templates for young women’s Bible studies, and an art/music accompaniment CD. We will be convening a group of young women to explore the feasibility of this project, and to set the wheels in motion for it to happen.

However, the meeting wasn’t all about business. One of the rarely discussed but crucial pieces of any CoCo meeting is the time we spend together as a spiritual community. Frankly, I think we create one of the most unique and empowering spaces in the church for spiritual and personal growth.

CoCo meetings try to allot a fair bit of time for community building. This time certain CoCo members discovered a passion for the murder game “Mafia” (Sheena made us play it four times in the wee hours of Sunday morning), while others flexed their acting chops in “Charades.” Thankfully for me, a member of the other team had to attempt to act out “Leviticus”.

More importantly, at every CoCo meeting we spend the late part of one evening checking in. Now, if you’ve ever served on an NNPCW committee, you know that we generally try to check in on one another before we start the call. Check-in at the CoCo meeting, though, takes it to a new level. In this case, it is kind of a “talking stick” thing—we set an object in the middle, and when you’re ready you pick it up and start talking. A woman can share anything on her mind or in her heart, whether that is school or relationships, the Network or otherwise. Everyone else just listens. We are not there to judge, not there to condemn, not there to question. We provide only silent love and space for our sister to share.

At the spring meeting, we also take time to share with one another during the Farewell Celebration. In addition to gifts from the committee to its outgoing members, we also express to each departing young woman what her gifts and talents have meant to us. The point is to build each woman up as she leaves us, to share with her all the wonderful gifts we see that God has given her. It is a powerful and emotional time.

On Saturday night, as I was listening to NNPCW women share these goodbyes with their sisters, I realized that perhaps this is what the church really needs. Think about it—when it comes to church fellowship, how much time do we spend with our sisters and brothers in Christ lifting up their strengths and thanking God for that? How much time do we spend telling one another that we have been good, and faithful, and that we’ve made a difference to others?

I think part of the reason CoCo works, in spite of the differences people have, is because we take the time to build an affirming and positive community. As one CoCo member said , there are pieces of God in all of us. CoCo is a community that makes an effort to point out and nurture those pieces. Isn’t building one another up what Scripture calls us to do?

“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” --1 Thessalonians 5:11

Kelsey