A Recipe for Community
The Aragons open their home to 20-something's every Sunday after church - the perfect recipe for community!
“Lunch is at our place!” Sarah Aragon beams, directing the invitation broadly to an aisle filled with 20-somethings. She’s met with a series of nodding heads and smiles and a chorus of, “I’ll be there!” A first-timer asks one important question: “What’s on the menu today?”
As the 11 AM service at Woodmen Heights ends, the group of young adults welcomes the regular Sunday invitation to the Aragons. For the regulars, the invite carries expectations of a delicious meal, a table full of intentional conversation, laughs, board games and, most importantly, community.
The Aragons — Carolyn and Mike — started the Sunday lunch tradition to invest in 20-somethings. With five adult children in that life stage, they’re all too aware of how challenging it can be for young adults to find life-giving community. Whether moving to a new town, starting a career or pursuing graduate studies, it’s often a decade marked by a series of transitions. Friends can be hard to come by.
Michael Aragon, the eldest child of Carolyn and Mike, learned well from his parents about the importance of community. Leading a 20-something Community Group came naturally to Michael. With two of his sisters, Sarah and Anne, attending the group, it was an easy next step for group members to start sitting together during Sunday services. As the group grew closer, whoever arrived first would save a few chairs with an outstretched jacket, or a journal and a Bible. Soon, by the time each service started, a row was filled with Community Group friends, plus a few extras who couldn’t make the group’s weekly meeting time.
Sunday lunches quickly went from a family tradition shared between the Aragon fam to an open invitation to the Community Group and anyone else willing to tag along. At Third Thursday, Woodmen’s big, once-a-month gathering for 20-somethings, Michael, Sarah and Anne are quick to invite brand new friends to the 11 AM Heights service and lunch afterward.
Due to the hospitality that flows through the Aragon home, community is blooming quickly. People are coming to understand, at a soul level, that the church is not a building, but rather God’s people being present with one another and walking the way of Christ together.
Each person who enjoys lunch leaves knowing they’re cared for and accepted. Mike and Carolyn make it a habit to greet each young adult by name and remember important details. Carolyn may circle back on a conversation from a prior week: “How did that big job interview go? We’ve been praying for you.” Or Mike will follow up: “How was the trip to Mexico?”
“The Aragons are so great at welcoming and inviting others to do life with them, and we’re especially blessed by their generosity and friendship,’ says Mariah Patterson, a regular at the Aragons. “I get to know someone new almost every time I go, which has really helped my husband and I get connected at Heights.”
Mariah smiles: “Whenever I have friends who come to Heights, I connect them with the Aragons. I know they’ll be welcomed into the fold with open arms! Their family loves so well.”
What’s for lunch? When someone asks the menu question at the Aragons, the answer includes a lot more than just crisp veggies and tasty proteins. Food may be what gets people through the door, but the intentional investment in lives is what makes people come back for more. 20-somethings are discovering that community isn’t found, it’s home-made. And thankfully, one of the primary ingredients is as organic and simple as lunch shared on Sunday.
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