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One of the idioms in our language that isn’t over used is, “gales of laughter.”  It’s a wonderful phrase because one can almost feel the outbursts, see people bent over in the velocity of a laugh, and hear it building.  I experienced gales of laughter at our picnic for the last day of golfing for the season.  I am not personally a golfer, but we have a group of people that golf together once a month on a Sunday afternoon.

At the end of the season they gather for a simple picnic in the church pavilion.  This year they invited me to join them and as they reminisced about the season and the fun they had there were gales of laughter coming from the group.

These informal groups among our congregation (and we have a lot of them) are wonderful times of fellowship.  In this instance playing golf is only an excuse for coming together.  I also realized that a lot of ministry happens in these information gatherings as people share what’s going on during informal congregations.  As we broke up for the evening I heard more than once, “I’ll pray for you,” or “I’ll pray for your friend.” Sometimes ministry happens when you aren’t looking.