As a way to welcome neighbors to this Sundays Friends and Neighbors Day at Wisdoms Table at St. Peters United Church of Christ in Lancaster, members of the liturgical art team crafted signs that read neighbors in multiple languages. But when they looked at them, one was missing.

We forgot to do it in English, said Diane Brandt, the churchs minister of liturgical art, with a laugh.

The multilingual signs are among the artworks on display at the church, which is hosting its third Friends and Neighbors service at 11 a.m.

Those entering the sanctuary at 816 Buchanan Ave. will be greeted with origami cranes made from No matter where youre from, were glad youre our neighbor signs suspended from the ceiling. The signs were conceived by Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and have found homes from the Northeast to the Midwest and beyond.

Brandt said the message shows that were all connected.

The Rev. Lance Mullins, co-pastor of the church, said the artwork expresses the churchs message.

We often think about liturgical art as just being adornment for the space, he said. But what Diane has helped us do is find a home for our community at what we say is the intersection of art and (social) justice.

Brandt said the idea of turning the the welcome signs into peace cranes speaks to the essence of the church.

Wisdoms Table is an open and affirming church. Over the past 3 1/2 years, it has grown from an average Sunday attendance of 20 to 65-70.

This Sundays event is designed around the neighborhood. Following the service, the event will spill out onto the lawn at 816 Buchanan Ave., where games and food, all with a Hawaiian theme, will be available, said Donte Jones, the resident pastor for connection ministry. Those attending also can make artwork from tissue paper.

This marks the third Friends and Neighbors Day sponsored by the church.

In the past, Jones said, passersby would stop to dine and take part. Its part of what Mullins calls the churchs radical hospitality.

The idea, he said, is to break down the walls between us.

The music will be eclectic, as well.

We will have old hymns, old spirituals, The Beatles and Johnny Cash, Mullins said.

They also will feature a 1979 Sister Sledge song that fits the occasion: We Are Family.

It is all part of the churchs mission to re-establish itself as a church that serves all neighbors, regardless of color or sexual orientation.

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Wisdom's Table's third annual Friends and Neighbors Day mixes spirituality, music, art and social justice - LancasterOnline